Suicide is, sadly, something that happens every day. And while, in many cases, we will never know why the person chose to take his or her life, in some cases, suicide seems to be caused by, or at least partially contributed by, someone else telling the person to commit suicide. Such is said to be the case of a recent suicide in San Antonio which may have been part of the “Blue Whale Challenge” or “Blue Whale Game”. Think no one would kill themselves because someone told them to? The evidence, and I, beg to differ.
What Is the Blue Whale Challenge?
The Blue Whale Challenge appears to be a list of 50 daily tasks that a person must complete under the guidance of an administrator. The tasks may involve viewing videos or listening to music sent to the “player”, or waking up at a set time and watching a scary movie. In reports of the Blue Whale Challenge, one or more of the tasks involve self-mutilation. There are participants who have been stopped before they got to the end of the game because of self-mutilation in the shape of a whale, for example.
The final task is always to commit suicide.
In the San Antonio case, 15-year-old Isaiah Gonzalez was found dead of an apparent suicide while a propped up cell phone broadcast the death. Apparently, Gonzalez had been taking pictures of the tasks and sending them to friends who just laughed it off.
No One Would Commit Suicide Because Someone Told Them To, Would They?
And this “laughing off” is one of the unfortunate things that suicidal people face. Everyone assumes that a person would never commit suicide and certainly would never commit suicide in the context of some “game”, but the fact is, this just isn’t true. When a person is suicidal, any reason at all can seem like a good reason to kill oneself.
One student claiming to have played the game said he was lead through gruesome tasks, including self-mutilation, until his parents stopped him from completing the final task which was to throw himself off a 20-story building in Moscow.
They start psychologically manipulating you. It is very professionally done. You become a bit of a zombie.
And if you take a disaffected youth who feels alone, misunderstood and depressed already, how hard do you really think you would have to push before someone in that situation followed through with taking his or her life?
Remember, most people who attempt/commit suicide do so with no encouragement from anyone (often with people begging them not to) so imagine if someone you began to have some relationship with, someone you looked up to (such as the administrator of a game) urged you to take your life? How much more appealing would it be?
Blue Whale Challenge Linked to Suicides
The invention of the Blue While Challenge or Game has been linked to Russia with the majority of cases happening there although countries all over the world have reported this game being linked to deaths. In March 2017, authorities in Russia were investigating approximately 130 separate cases of suicide related to the game. So while some say this challenge doesn’t really exist, the Russian officials would apparently disagree. It’s also worth noting that two arrests have been made in connection with the Blue Whale Game in Russia. In one case a 21-year-old, Philipp Budeikin, has been accused of urging 16 girls to kill themselves with the game while another 26-year-old, Ilya Sidorov, has allegedly urged 30 girls to kill themselves.
Why Would Anyone Tell Someone Else to Commit Suicide?
Obviously, I can’t answer for everyone but in the case of Budeikin, one source has him referring to Blue Whale Game participants as “genetical rubbish.”
But regardless as to why one, clearly disturbed, individual would urge others to suicide, what I know is that other, seemingly-less-disturbed individuals encourage peoples’ suicides all the time. I’ve seen it firsthand on Facebook. A person says she’s suicidal and no one offers any compassion and, in fact, some say, “just go and do it already,” generally referring to the fact that she has talked about suicide in the past. And, as I’ve said, that one, small line written on the computer can be enough for a person to use it as an excuse to take his or her life. And no matter how uncaring the person who wrote it might be, I highly doubt he or she really wanted to cause a death – but that may be the result.
Cries for Help, in the Form of the Blue Whale Game or Otherwise, Need to Be Taken Seriously
The lesson from all of this is quite simple: every outcry for help matters. It doesn’t matter if the person is crying out for help because she broke up with her girlfriend or because he failed a test. It doesn’t matter if the person is crying out for help because of abuse in the home or a mental illness. What matters is the person is crying out for help – and that needs to be taken seriously.
Anyone wanting to take part in the Blue Whale Challenge has to solicit an administrator via social media. This ask, by its very nature, has to be public, which means other people know about it. And all it takes to save a life is to say something about this action, this hashtag, this desire. All it takes is seeing this hashtag for what it really is: a cry for help, an indication of unbearable pain. Because sometimes a hashtag is not just a hashtag. And sometimes we can’t sit idly by and let others suffer. It is critical that any cry for help, be it through this game or any other means, be taken seriously. Because not doing so can have dire repercussions.
Remember: pain ends, but not if you’re not alive to feel it.
I have PTSD and negative self esteem, but if you kill yourself because a stranger on the internet told you to, you probablay were going to be done in soon by something along the lines of choking on a happy meal toy, or running headlong into a mirror because you thought someone broke into your house.
There’s a difference between being suicidal, and being an outright idiot.
I’d never heard of this Blue Whale Game, but it makes me think. Why does someone take on a challenge like this? They know that it will involve doing things which are painful and disturbing. It is admirable that they are willing to take on a challenge to do something which might be disturbing and painful, but of course it turns out to be something destructive.
Psychologist Jordan Peterson points out that, when suffering is unavoidable, we suffer less if we take it on voluntarily, e.g. we will be able to cope with the anxiety of public speaking more easily if we make the choice to do it than if someone forces us into the spotlight.
Now getting our life sorted out – identifying tasks which, if not done, will bring suffering on us – maybe something financial, maybe health-related – can sometimes be painful and disturbing. Sometimes we would rather just try to hide our head under our pillow and hope it all goes away. But taking on the challenge will reduce our suffering in the future.
So, while this game is a terrible phenomena, I see something positive in young people’s willingness to embrace a frightening and painful path. If only there were someone there with their best interests at heart, harnessing that courage by pointing them in the direction of the sometimes painful and sometimes frightening path of self-improvement and thus self-empowerment.
Another aspect of this game seems to be that of obeying authority. Our tendency to be too willing to obey authority – to do it because someone tells us to do it – lies being so many horrific events – the Holocaust on the macro level to the fast food outlet staff sexually molesting girls because someone claiming to be a police officer told them to (as dramatised in the movie Compliance. We need to learn how to heal the insecurity of self which leads to this phenomena. We need to own our dark side, because until we do, others can exploit the divided nature of our psyche to push us toward doing harm to others or to ourselves.
This is just awful and I am so saddened to hear about this so close to home since I live in Austin, Texas only a couple hours away from San Antonio. Suicide is not something that should be taken lightly and if this is how children today are looking at it then something definitely needs to be changed as far as the way we talk to our kids about mental health. There have been too many losses including this child due to suicide and there are things we can do about it which include them going to therapy or at the very least being introduced to mental illness as a topic and how deeply it impacts a lot of individuals. Thank you for sharing.
In Kingston,Ontario we have a special line where you can talk long long ……
They don’t bust you,like whose your Dr
They ask empathetically how are you feeling tonite?”
They have really helped me when I’ve needed to vent be it depression,or mania.
No judgement here whatsoever,never ask are you single / married? I’d actually say none of your biz as that’s not
What this call is about!
If you go thru your psych or GP office they may have some type of similar services
However,I don’t know where you live,I don’t reside in a lrg city,however plenty of MI people live here even downtown ( sadly) on our streets)
Keep as well,if your Drs have bulletin boards many do)
Or pamphlets on topics such as talklines & more serious crisislines ( for suicide feelings)
I generally use talklines much more often ocassionally,the latter)
Best of luck,to you,don’t give up….
Worst thing we can do
Natasha would agree 100%
I’m not saying it’s not a bitch having this disease,not in the least!!!
Wow!
Sounds like cultist brainwashing to me…….
How horrific,ppl commit suicide by mental diseases everyday anyhow…this actually made me feel like vomiting.
Yes,computers are good , & bad……Facebook,twitter,snapchat….the lot.
The kids have no idea of these dangerous fads they are choosing to blinding follow,like sheeple …..
Rather than get professional help,more cool” to follow their friends…yeah,some friends….
It’s extremely upsetting topic to me,as I was only 10 yrs old thus finding out my cousin aged 18 killed herself
from massive sleeping pill OD…..it scared me ,but I …..understood the pain aspect / but we mum dad me my siblings were shook…….
So unexpected she was very smart & very pretty I was told to keep quiet when asked what happened??
There exsists such shame even around my attempts at the S” word we keep it quiet as if it never happened….
Typical)
I cannot begin to imagine a successful young persons attempt / any age attempt …..no matter your family……..
That’s a tough one,to answer as a BP suffer & trying to see w the bit of logic that still works in my brain……
I guess there’s always going to be fads with kids/ teens college kids maybe …..difficult to control that.
I’m for sure not agreeing no way!!!
I think it’s disgusting & such a loss to their families…….
Just repeat they’d gone for help instead of the damn game!!!
But,maybe the surviving fam members of my fam say similar things re me…..like,why didn’t she take her BP more seriously?
Why did she go off her meds a few times?
I cannot do what she asks,seperate bipolar from my sister/ Sandra,it’s too hard.
This hurts so bad when she’s manic she hurts us verbally abusive I have to hang up on her cannot speak to her
For my own health”
Why didn’t the right diagnosis come so late in life?”
Wish she could enjoy things more,but the RCBP prevents it,I’m always on edge with her”
Jeckyll or Hyde today,Sandra?”
That isn’t my sister!”
You see what you wish to see
Hear what you want to hear
Face ……when your ready to.
They are just plain & simple not ready.
Yet I’ve sent so much computer material.
Yes,
Black dog comes to see me more than I admit here b/ c I’m rather private.
I feel frozen.
Without a soul
Just distant & that horrid sinking feeling in my chest…..no thank you.
There are no words than.
Great blog, Natasha. My last suicide attempt was in response to an offhand remark someone made that I took as meaning “Go ahead.” I was severely depressed and just waiting for a trigger, any trigger. When you’re mentally ill your brain doesn’t work rationally.
Hi Paul
Sandra here
I’m so saddened by your comment!
What a idiot that person was!
Tell you this lil storytime,I was in my local Emergency,aft waiting 4 h not even a cup of water….
A Dr comes in,he says the following ” oh if your life is so bad, go home & kill yourself”
PAUL! THIS IS A DR ON STAFF IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
I said fffffffiiinnnnneee!
Got up,was pouring rain,still ACTIVELY SUICIDAL TRIED TO WALK IN FRONT OF A MOVING TAXI
No one GAVE ONE SHIT
So I burst into tears,couldn’t even breathe walked FAR AWAY FR HOSPITAL GOT A CAB WENT HOME
LIED ABOUT ENTIRE THING!!!!! Nice One # great Dr syndrome …..
We need to get onto Talkradio as a guest expert for an hour here and an hour there everywhere. Increasing awareness of this topic – and how so-called Toxic Parents is a hoax to divide and break hearts another way – can save lives by intervention.
The education of the public must be to change intervention rules of assets. At present, you can’t consult, speak with or even help anyone unless they are a danger to others, a danger to themselves, or gravely disabled. At present, there is nothing there for the Cry For Help we see everywhere except a pathetic mumbling announcement sometimes that resources are available ‘if they want them’.
Well, sorry to tell bureaucrats their job, but the cry for help is to want help out loud and making assets available – if they want them – is a very limp way to help anyone. The Suicide prevention, VA helplines and the rest are not as useful as they think they are in a what-more-can-we-do? bureaucrat’s mind.
Bureaucrats: Listen to our minds for once: build something intermediate for the cry for help personality, because it’s a real warning that nobody wants to hear, especially bureaucrats.
Go on the air, Natasha. Make a PR, send them this article url and you background with it and call major show producers for a 60-minute booking. Obtain an mp3 of the show from them with permission to exhibit it and don’t stop.