By Norman Fried —

Last month, Abraham Biggs, a 19-year-old community college student in Florida, committed suicide on a live webcast with a virtual audience of over 1,500 viewers.

Reports from the Broward County medical examiner’s office state that some members of his audience encouraged him to do it, while others tried to talk him out of it. A third group of viewers is noted to have weighed in on whether Biggs was taking a dose of pills large enough to actually kill himself. Once police officers were seen on the video camera entering into Biggs’ room, Internet responses are reported to have ranged from “Oh my God” to “LOL” and “Ha-ha-ha.”

Biggs is said to have died from a lethal combination of opiates and benzodiazepines, which his family assert were prescribed for his bipolar disorder. His suicide suggests that all of us need to understand more clearly the malevolent nature of mental illness. In addition, his public death begs the question:

What is our ethical responsibility as members of a virtual world where people let us in on their most intimate thoughts and actions?

In order to answer the question, we must first understand how depression (especially bipolar) can insidiously affect the well-being of its sufferers. Bipolar disorder is often misunderstood, and even more often under-recognized. The age of its onset varies, but it most often occurs between late adolescence and the early 20s.

People with this disorder appear fine much of the time, with no single symptom that could raise suspicion. However, sufferers will eventually exhibit a manic or hypo-manic episode in which their mood and energy are persistently elevated, euphoric or irritable (usually lasting for a minimum of one week).  This is followed by a depressive episode serious enough to cause significant problems in relationships, combined with a loss of hope and possible suicidal tendencies.

Most viewers of a live Internet video or YouTube feature may be unaware of the clinical signs and symptoms listed above (credit tyler). But a public announcement of a planned suicide, with a posting of an actual time and date, as Biggs is reported to have done, forces us to ask ourselves how such a declaration can be ignored, under-challenged or, even worse, provoked.

Has our over-exposure to Internet trauma and intimacy dulled our human trigger to provide help and support? Or do we naively assume that “someone else will call for help”? Regardless of the answer, Biggs’ death, and many others like his, hastens us to reflect on our own sense of responsibility to the suffering of fellow humans, be it on the Internet or in the real world in which we live.

Dr. Norman J. Fried, Ph.D., is director of psycho-social services for the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Winthrop University on Long Island, New York. A clinical psychologist with graduate degrees from Emory University, he has also taught in the medical schools of New York University and St. John’s University, and has been a fellow in clinical and pediatric psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fried is a Disaster Mental Health Specialist for The American Red Cross of Greater New York, and he has a private practice in grief and bereavement counseling on Long Island. He is married with three sons and lives in Roslyn, New York.

His website is www.normanfried.com.