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      05-15-2018, 08:48 AM   #1
Ali Shiralian
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Video games and suicide

I wasn't sure where to post this, sorry if it's in the wrong section.

My 20 year old nephew committed suicide last Saturday after playing games Overwatch and BlueWhale. Polices investigation is ongoing but from what I've seen so far they're making a connection to the games he was playing. Supposedly the game BlueWhale is a fifty stage game with the last stage requiring to take your own life. These games have Russian connections and their purpose is to cleanse the world from the weak.

For those of you who have kids playing games in their rooms please monitor what's going on with them and check their chats on the suforums. We're shocked to find out what he was talking about on these forums and how dark the conversations got.

We lost a perfectly normal, smart kid to these game and I hope governments around the world take steps to monitor and stop sale of these sort of games.

Parent as well as relatives are devastated and there will be no healing for the foreseeable future...
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      05-15-2018, 09:37 AM   #2
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I recently lost someone close to me to suicide as well.

The first month it's all you can think about. Your job seems like it doesnt matter, any little problems in your life you were stressing about dont matter anymore, theyre all dwarved by this tragedy. Nothing seems to matter except why did this happen, and what could i have done to stop it. Depending on how close you were to the person you might stop eating right, sleeping right.

The second month gets better. You'll start to eat normally again, sleep normally again, but still it is like some of your own life was sucked out of you. Everything that exists is more dull, all your previous problems are now put into perspective. The thought of something like losing your job, what would have been the worst thing possible before this, now sounds like not a big deal at all, maybe even welcomed.

I'm on the start of month #3 now and things are better than ever but it won't ever be the same.

However to blame video games is a bit of a stretch I think. Overwatch is a fun and competitive cartoon shooter game that has nothing to do with suicide. It has a rating of T for teen. There's minimal blood, no really graphic violence besides the characters falling over dead when they are killed.

BlueWhale however is not a "game" its literally a path one chooses to take their own life. You dont take your own life because you play BlueWhale, you play BlueWhale because you want to take your own life, if that makes any sense. At least that's how I understand it from what I've read.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened and if you need anyone to talk to I'm just a message away, and can relate pretty well with my own experience. Things do get better with time, no matter how untrue that sounds right now I swear it does get better.
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      05-15-2018, 09:48 AM   #3
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First let me express my deepest condolences for your loss...

Information on blue whale the "game" is all over Youtube....it is the opposite of getting psychological help for those that are depressed and suicidal already. It actually encourages it and promotes it. Should be shut down and everyone arrested associated with it. This is not really a video game (see video below) and video games in general should not be villainized. This is a social media psychological manipulation and brainwashing platform...


Last edited by N55darksoul; 05-15-2018 at 09:58 AM..
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      05-15-2018, 10:11 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Joester View Post
I recently lost someone close to me to suicide as well.

The first month it's all you can think about. Your job seems like it doesnt matter, any little problems in your life you were stressing about dont matter anymore, theyre all dwarved by this tragedy. Nothing seems to matter except why did this happen, and what could i have done to stop it. Depending on how close you were to the person you might stop eating right, sleeping right.

The second month gets better. You'll start to eat normally again, sleep normally again, but still it is like some of your own life was sucked out of you. Everything that exists is more dull, all your previous problems are now put into perspective. The thought of something like losing your job, what would have been the worst thing possible before this, now sounds like not a big deal at all, maybe even welcomed.

I'm on the start of month #3 now and things are better than ever but it won't ever be the same.

However to blame video games is a bit of a stretch I think. Overwatch is a fun and competitive cartoon shooter game that has nothing to do with suicide. It has a rating of T for teen. There's minimal blood, no really graphic violence besides the characters falling over dead when they are killed.

BlueWhale however is not a "game" its literally a path one chooses to take their own life. You dont take your own life because you play BlueWhale, you play BlueWhale because you want to take your own life, if that makes any sense. At least that's how I understand it from what I've read.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened and if you need anyone to talk to I'm just a message away, and can relate pretty well with my own experience. Things do get better with time, no matter how untrue that sounds right now I swear it does get better.

Thank you so much for your reply.

I agree with you that the game "Overwatch" itself my not have had anything to do with what happened to him but police are investigating the chats that went on between him and four other people and that's concerned us as the tone of the chats were pretty gloomy. He's was very advanced in that game (top 1% in the world) and was leading his university team. His ultimate goal was to be in the top .1% so he can start testing games and actually make money from it. It's very sad right now but your experience is giving me hope that things will get easier to handle and time will heal to a degree.

He was mostly playing Overwatch but had discussed BlueWhale with his chat group.

Trying to kept together...
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      05-15-2018, 10:14 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by N55darksoul View Post
First let me express my deepest condolences for your loss...

Information on blue whale the "game" is all over Youtube....it is the opposite of getting psychological help for those that are depressed and suicidal already. It actually encourages it and promotes it. Should be shut down and everyone arrested associated with it. This is not really a video game (see video below) and video games in general should not be villainized. This is a social media psychological manipulation and brainwashing platform...

With my limited knowledge of gaming, I agree with your assessment however what goes on in the chat rooms while playing games are what police are investigating. Parent should be aware that although games maybe harmless the interaction between players are not monitored and could get out of hand and dangerous.
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      05-15-2018, 10:18 AM   #6
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I don't think you should group Overwatch and Blue Whale together... or call Blue Whale a video game.

Blue Whale is more similar to SlenderMan shit. It is not a video game, it is a "game" of dares and building up to committing suicide or killing people.

Sounds like Joker nailed everything. Sorry for your loss.
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      05-15-2018, 10:22 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Hawkeye View Post
I don't think you should group Overwatch and Blue Whale together... or call Blue Whale a video game.

Blue Whale is more similar to SlenderMan shit. It is not a video game, it is a "game" of dares and building up to committing suicide or killing people.
You're correct, BlueWhale is not a video game but a dare game. It's just happened that he referenced it in some of his on line chats.
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      05-15-2018, 10:44 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian View Post
He's was very advanced in that game (top 1% in the world) and was leading his university team. His ultimate goal was to be in the top .1% so he can start testing games and actually make money from it.
My avatar picture and forum title are in reference to the game Rocket League. I'm in the top .3% of all players worldwide and can relate to his desire for success. I've personally observed a few pro players that stream games on twitch seem to have some personality disorders. It's just a guess, but I think maybe the people that can put thousands of hours into a game over just a couple years are the same type of people who are prone to mental illness. I have no evidence to back this up though.

Once again if you or anyone you know needs to talk, I'll listen. I'm not just saying that to be nice, or because its the typical thing to say. I'm seriously right here, one message away if you need to talk or get anything off your mind. Same goes to anyone reading this thread who might be having a hard time or feeling depressed.
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      05-15-2018, 10:45 AM   #9
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I'm very sorry for your loss.

Blue Whale seems to prey on the insecurity of people in a very malicious way. While Overwatch might not be at fault, his group of friends is. Competitive Overwatch is an extremely team oriented game and this is especially true if you are able to climb as high as your nephew did in the ranks. Coordination, communication, and trust play a big role in success in the higher ranks, sadly it did not translate to the real world.
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      05-15-2018, 10:54 AM   #10
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So sorry for your loss. Peer pressure and cultural influences have created big problems for teenagers. So many kids have committed suicide because they feel it is the only escape from social media pressure. I feel online gaming is a form of this.
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      05-15-2018, 11:04 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CTinline-six View Post
So sorry for your loss. Peer pressure and cultural influences have created big problems for teenagers. So many kids have committed suicide because they feel it is the only escape from social media pressure. I feel online gaming is a form of this.
On the contrary, I don't know what I would do without video games. All the friends I hang out with I know through video games, or play video games with nightly.

Every night me and all my friends hop in our discord server and play Rocket League, PUBG, Fortnite, CS:GO, or whatever happens to be popular at the time.

Its the only way I find I can take my mind off of whatever happens to be stressing me out at the moment and I sincerely don't know what I would do without video games.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that video games aren't all bad. I personally think it is the people that you surround yourself with that contribute the most to your mental health, whether that be friends, significant others, family, etc. but that's just like, my opinion, man. It's surely different for everyone.
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      05-15-2018, 11:23 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joester View Post
On the contrary, I don't know what I would do without video games. All the friends I hang out with I know through video games, or play video games with nightly.

Every night me and all my friends hop in our discord server and play Rocket League, PUBG, Fortnite, CS:GO, or whatever happens to be popular at the time.

Its the only way I find I can take my mind off of whatever happens to be stressing me out at the moment and I sincerely don't know what I would do without video games.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that video games aren't all bad. I personally think it is the people that you surround yourself with that contribute the most to your mental health, whether that be friends, significant others, family, etc. but that's just like, my opinion, man. It's surely different for everyone.
Agreed ^^ I have also played video games forever...they are not the cause. I also typically play what people would consider extremely violent and scary ones and me and my friends are not depressed nor would ever consider suicide.
Also, to the OP: Overwatch has nothing to do with suicide "Overwatch is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, which released on May 24, 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. Overwatch assigns players into two teams of six, with each player selecting from a roster of over 20 characters, known in-game as "heroes", each with a unique style of play." Playing this game would not cause anyone to be depressed.
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      05-15-2018, 11:27 AM   #13
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I'm very sorry Ali. Please let me know if I can be in any help.
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      05-15-2018, 11:32 AM   #14
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Sorry to hear about this!
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      05-15-2018, 12:26 PM   #15
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Sorry for your loss. If your nephew was anything like my nieces/nephews, just because they are a generation removed doesn't make them any less your "children" I wish you healing, but most importantly UNDERSTANDING to start that healing.
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      05-15-2018, 05:38 PM   #16
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I thank every one of you for helping me cope with this situation. I feel I need to be strong for my wife, sister, kids and other nieces and nephews. Words can not describe how I feel...
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      05-16-2018, 03:55 AM   #17
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really sorry to hear it.. at such a young age.. (((
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      05-18-2018, 09:13 PM   #18
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Wow, sorry for your loss.


I heard about this Blue Whale game a while ago. Can’t believe it still not under control.
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      06-15-2018, 08:20 PM   #19
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The troll factor is high (premise: a game, no, a RUSSIAN game designed to "eliminate the weak" killed your nephew, really?) so I'm not even sure if this is a real post, but I'll bite.

A game has nothing whatsoever to do with causing your nephew's suicide and frankly that kind of conjecture is insulting to his memory by not only mischaracterizing the issue but trivializing it. I've seen this kind of thing a lot with families who lose someone to suicide--people always want something easy to blame. The truth is suicide is rarely simple. Your nephew undoubtedly had serious issues you were not fully informed on. Whether these issues were due to visible pressures or purely inside his head is immaterial as there is no difference with regard to whatever suffering he went through. There can also be no doubt that whatever the parents think, they were not sufficiently close or understanding with their son. If they were, there would have been discussions about whatever issues existed well before things escalated to the point of suicide. If anything, THAT should be the teachable moment from this tragedy.

Also, did it ever occur to you that maybe someone who's tired of living and considering taking their own life might consume media that's related? In other words, don't mistake correlation for causation.

Finally, good luck parents on monitoring your kids' online stuff. Ignoring the completely unrealistic nature of that suggestion, most kids don't kill themselves even left to their own devices on the internet. And a helicopter parent nanny is bound to do more harm than good to most kids.
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      06-16-2018, 07:15 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes View Post
The troll factor is high (premise: a game, no, a RUSSIAN game designed to "eliminate the weak" killed your nephew, really?) so I'm not even sure if this is a real post, but I'll bite.

A game has nothing whatsoever to do with causing your nephew's suicide and frankly that kind of conjecture is insulting to his memory by not only mischaracterizing the issue but trivializing it. I've seen this kind of thing a lot with families who lose someone to suicide--people always want something easy to blame. The truth is suicide is rarely simple. Your nephew undoubtedly had serious issues you were not fully informed on. Whether these issues were due to visible pressures or purely inside his head is immaterial as there is no difference with regard to whatever suffering he went through. There can also be no doubt that whatever the parents think, they were not sufficiently close or understanding with their son. If they were, there would have been discussions about whatever issues existed well before things escalated to the point of suicide. If anything, THAT should be the teachable moment from this tragedy.

Also, did it ever occur to you that maybe someone who's tired of living and considering taking their own life might consume media that's related? In other words, don't mistake correlation for causation.

Finally, good luck parents on monitoring your kids' online stuff. Ignoring the completely unrealistic nature of that suggestion, most kids don't kill themselves even left to their own devices on the internet. And a helicopter parent nanny is bound to do more harm than good to most kids.

It wasn't so much the video game itself as the chatter in the forum while playing that game. Police has recovered the conversations up to the time when he decided enough was enough and I can tell you it all points to the direction of him not being worthy enough and weak. Investigations have not concluded but if I were you I wouldn't discount the games influence on volnarable kids.

Thank you for your perspective
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      06-16-2018, 07:59 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian View Post
It wasn't so much the video game itself as the chatter in the forum while playing that game. Police has recovered the conversations up to the time when he decided enough was enough and I can tell you it all points to the direction of him not being worthy enough and weak. Investigations have not concluded but if I were you I wouldn't discount the games influence on volnarable kids.

Thank you for your perspective
How is your family holding up Ali?
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      06-16-2018, 08:56 AM   #22
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How is your family holding up Ali?
We have our good days followed by some bad days. As my brother says, the Tsunami has passed now it's just waves. My sister not doing so well and I expect her never be the same.

Thank you for asking....
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