THE internet may be fuelling an increase in suicide pacts. In the past two months, 26 people in Japan have killed themselves after meeting online and planning their deaths using websites containing instructions for committing suicide.
These how-to websites, which contain information about, for instance, the lethal doses of paracetamol and other common drugs, may be fostering pacts between young, solitary strangers, says Sundararajan Rajagopal of St Thomas鈥� Hospital in London (British Medical Journal, vol 329, p 1298).
鈥淭hese websites tell people the lethal doses of paracetamol and other common drugs鈥�
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Earlier, suicide pacts were typically formed between older, childless spouses, and almost always between people who knew each other well. Suicidal people, and those who look after them, must be made aware of the dangers of these sites, Rajagopal told New 杏吧原创.
Rajagopal, however, does not expect the total number of suicides to increase, as people committing suicide in pacts would most likely attempt to kill themselves on their own.