Developer Rachel Byrk Commits Suicide After Months of Cyber Bullying

On April 23 prominent game developer Rachel Byrk committed suicide following months of cyber-bullying telling her to jump from a bridge. Byrk, suffered constant abuse for being transgendered from the gaming communities she was a part of.

Before her death she made huge contributions to the Gamecube and Wii emulator community. Doing work for Dolphin to improve the system all around.

[crazychris4124]

Hunt them down and lock them up, damn bullies

[Thatguy-310]

Even though bullying is bad I just don't understand how people go to the extent of killing themselves from online bullying. It's online so one can just ignore it and brush it aside. I always tell myself that as soon as you go online you should have thick skin from the get go since everyone can do and say what they want. Dealing with online haters shouldn't require a lot of energy. It's sad that she felt the need to do what she did because of online idiots.

[lashes2ashes]

Everybody is different. Just because you can just brush off stuff does not mean everybody else can. She most likely suffered from depression and the bully's just added on to that.

[-EvoAnubis-]

I don't personally understand it either, but I'm confident enough in myself to not give a flying toss what anyone else has to say on the subject. Not everyone can say the same, and to them ish like this can really have a drastic effect on them.

[oasdada]

Somethings just get u you know.. tell a handsome man he's ugly too many times and even he'll start to believe it. And the saddest part about this story is that bullies still wont learn a lesson

[Rachel_Alucard]

She had low self-esteem and chronic pain, some people have a more difficult time dealing with social activities and don't know how to respond and may have negative reactions to things that most people can brush off.

[Bathyj]

Its not just about having thick skin. Surely if the criticism is affecting you that much you should just stop reading. There are always other options.

Its just a bunch of clowns anyway, why would you keep actively seeking their opinion if its so terrible.

I would throw my computer off a bridge before I threw myself off one.

[DragonKnight]

The inability to disassociate online from reality is a personality flaw that one can't control. It's actually a mental condition. There are even people who can't disassociate themselves from characters in fantasy situations and even come to truly care about people that don't actually exist, to the point they can't enjoy any fictional story that would require the death of those characters, especially at the hands of a person with such a condition.

People who do not have those flaws can't comprehend actually taking seriously the kind of muck raking that goes on online. That's simply because their mind is functioning the way it was intended to. For people like Rachel, well she wasn't so fortunate.

The people telling her to do those things also have problems. But unlike Rachel, their problems could also be a lack of proper guidance from parents. They also had the choice to not act the way they did and instead decided that their anonymity and desire to make someone feel like crap was more important than anything else.

May Rachel find in death, the serenity she was not granted in life.

May the bullies that drove her to this be made to understand the finality of their actions

[rdgneoz3]

"It's online so one can just ignore it and brush it aside."

Yep, exactly. It's the internet, you can always just shut the browser down or stop visiting certain sites. If they were harassing her in person or such, it'd be one thing. But most sites and such have ignore features...

[itBourne]

While I do not condone suicide, at all, and find it pointless, I do hope the best for everyone effected by this. I wish her family and those close to her the best. I hope they celebrate the good times they had with her.

Still one of the best quotes I have ever heard... "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

[Lukejrl]

Yea, sadly though the Internet has become the opposite of what it was initially designed to do. The Internet was to unite people around the globe, instead we have families at the dinner table looking at their tablets. Or worse not they can't even watch a show together with being online.

Pepole regardless of problems need human contact not over Internet contact. It should not be okay to isolate oneself.

Not saying things would have been different, people have a lot going on but if your out there and people see your pain they can help better.

Not say this person was totally isolated but to willfully carry on the conversation I read on a site makes me angry at the asshole and sad for the victim.

[TFJWM]

@DragonKnight Can you explain yourself a little clearer you go on about people not being able to separate themselves from online avatars, not sure what has to do with anything in this story. They are talking to Rachel not to a virtual representation of Rachel...

[Testfire]

My thoughts go out to the family as this is a tragedy. With that being said, I can't help but think that suicide among young people is getting worse.

As someone who was bullied, I actually don't hate bullies. I think bullying is a natural order of life and society. It's made me a tougher person and brought me out of a shell I was in as a youngster.

The difference for me was I come from a generation where we were raised tougher and learned to cope with our problems. Kids now and especially from the 90s weren't raised right imo. Parents were told not to spank, don't yell and to give "time outs". They were told their kids needed meds and therapy. Parents tell their kids not to stand up to bullies, but rather go tell a teacher. Everyone is a winner and we're all equal. Well guess what? That's not life! And now these children grow up and can't deal with bullies, can't cope and don't know what to do.

Couple this with a generation that's hooked on social media where online popularity is a measure of self worth and where trolls are a dime a dozen and you get a recipe for disaster.

[DragonKnight]

@TFJWM: I was pretty clear. The idea was posited that Rachel should have been able to just brush it aside. My comment was made to show that some people can't disassociate themselves from things that are said online so as to be able to just brush it aside and that the inability to do so is a mental condition. I'm saying that Rachel was incapable of just brushing it aside because she was incapable of disassociating herself in the manner that is necessary to be able to just ignore it.

[Swiggins]

It's tough think about it, but there's a large segment of the new generation that effectively "lives" online, all their friends are online, they communicate through social media and they retreat from the real world in favor of one that suits them better.

Unfortunately, when douche-canoes starts cyber-bullying these people, the destruction of their virtual world can seem like the destruction of their real world.

My heart goes out to Rachel's friends and family. I won't pretend to understand what a transgendered person feels like (I'm not transgender), and I'll admit to not understanding really anything about the concept. But regardless of any of that, we've lost another talented individual who likely had a bright future ahead of them because people pushed them to the point where they didn't see any other way out.

Rest in Peace.

[ShinMaster]

IT WASN'T THE BULLYING ALONE.

She suffered from depression and had crippling arthritis and fibromyalgia which caused her chronic pain.

[Edito]

Ppl that probably she never saw personally i im with you i don't understand and i feel really sad and sorry for her family... I hope this trend stops asap.

[donthate]

dboyc310:

What you say to a healthy person and their reaction is generally brushed off. However, what you say to a depressed person, might just push them off the cliff.

Think of it as, if you are angry, how much easier is it to push you to get angrier?

I volunteered for suicide prevention hotline, and it was just about managing feelings the entire time. People that felt suicidal needed somebody to talk to from jumping off that cliff.

Unfortunately, the world we live in is a world of selfishness, ignorance and lack of acceptance especially on the internet.

[UKmilitia]

http://samedifference1.com/...

disabled,transgender,depressi on and chronic back pain.

poeple was telling her to jump of bridge and she did.
wow ,what a horrible world we live in,i hope karma comes back to bite them.

[blackblades]

Words actually do hurt.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

well some people make life on the internet.

[Aither]

My Rachel rest in piece. I pray for her family that they may overcome this hard and difficult time.

Cyber bullying is an awful thing, as one who has experienced it myself it can in some ways hurt more than actual bullying because you cannot defend yourself against the attackers when they hide behind their keyboards.

[bouzebbal]

kill yourself for this? i guess she must have had some problems next to.
still, nothing allows anyone to take a life, no matter the reason no matter the circumstances.

[Damrock]

You don't know what is going on in other people life's though.

The person might already be on the edge of doing something and just take one person to push them over that edge.

People should think before they open there mouth cause the person they say something abusive too might be the person that's already down and on the edge.

[r1sh12]

its hard to say she can brush it off easily, because it sounded like she probably worked with people through online communities.
She might have also been an active forum user, its hard for some to just not care.
Imagine going to work everyday and getting told youre all sorts of things, her work might have primarily been on the internet and that could have been her first point of interaction with people.
Who knows, people get really brave on the net since they wont get their asses handed to them because they might be suffering in real life.

Its a cycle that probably wont get broken any time soon.
Not everyone can brush off things said to them, its the same in real life.
If a person gets bullied one of them may not care, whilst another might take it heart.
Everyone is different.

[spoonard]

It's not the bullying alone, generally people that take these extreme measures have other things wrong as well.

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

PREACH!

[DarXyde]

Some people struggle to do such things. We're not all made the same way. At a physiological level, you'd be surprised just how different we really are. Some people are on the edge of schizophrenia and it only takes a mild trigger get that stone rolling. Others are genetically predisposed to depression or bipolar disorders/cyclothymia. Some people have intensive compulsions and phobias that they feel they can never overcome.

We may not truly understand, but we are truly different and it's an empathy for these neurologically diverse occurrences that bring us together.

Bullying is never right and it makes me sick to my stomach to see a lack of concern for your fellow human (not you personally, but the bullies).

We don't know what other people deal with and perhaps the one place Miss Byrk felt at home was the one place that bullied her. Condolences, and it's a shame.

[JsonHenry]

The problem is most likely due to some sort of mental illness/instability complicated by stress from things like "bullying" or other life struggles.

[frostypants]

People with anxiety disorders can't let stuff go so easily...perhaps she had one. Still, can't really legislate away people being jerks. The issue is more a social problem than anything...how did we get to a point where people think it's acceptable and enjoyable to be so outwardly cruel to others? There was a time when most would keep such thoughts to themselves. The internet is an amazing thing, but it has enabled certain aspects of civilized society to deteriorate.

[leogets]

Im pritty sure it wouldnt b just bullying. Shes was probably depressed or bi polar or something. Either way she wasnt taking her medication.

[Codewow]

It's not just online though. Cyber bullies often take it much further by harassing you by mail, phone calls, etc. They'll get to you any way they can if they're a dedicated bully and not just some random person trying to make himself/herself laugh.

[SilentNegotiator]

Let's pretend like there HASN'T been a campaign by the media to defame gamers and overstate the amount of harassment that women get on the internet for a second...

Was the main contributing factor REALLY the cyber harassment?

edit: Nope. http://thecolorffooff.tumbl...
No doubt this will be cited for years to come anyway, and probably be talked about the next time Anita/Quinn/etc speaks to congress to try to convince them to limit freedom of speech.

[Revolver_X_]

@Silent

While you hope people wouldn't politicize this, it is an unfortunate inevitability. There are people probably chomping at the bits to fit this in their agenda.

[MrCherry]

Thin you dont get it! Its a disease not a "o today im going to kill my self"

[VenomUK]

Jesus Christ, I didn't know anything about Rachel but it is so heartbreaking when somebody takes their own life. My thoughts are with her family. May she rest in peace.

[XBLSkull]

It may be hard to avoid bullying in a real life but "cyber bullying" is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Cancel internet service, boom, problem solved. I'm guessing it was due to other things because that is so ridiculous, I can't feel sorry for her because of that. It's like when someone dies in a parachute accident - I can't say "oh how sad" with a straight face. You chose to jump out of an airplane and it ended badly, that is a Darwin award not a sad story. Easily preventable but some people are destined to have natural selection remove them from the population.

[Gaming101]

This person was trans gender, and the suicide rate of trans gender people is actually quite high. Combined with ongoing health issues, probably from whatever hormones this person was taking, it doesn't surprise.

The online bullying is probably the least of this person's problems. No one really kills themselves because of solely online bullying, there are always other factors.

[abstractel]

@dboy You start off saying bullying is bad, then go onto basically justify it. If you don't understand what it's like to be severely depressed and severely bullied, you shouldn't have an opinion. If you have been both, and you have tough skin, good for you, but there's zero excuses for bullying.

It's the "she wore the wrong dress so it's partly her own fault she got raped" argument" applied to bullying.

I've never been suicidal, but I have been severely bullied and it's f'ing depressing as hell.

[SuperbVillain]

some people are just closer to the edge than others. has to be built up from years of shit from other people

[ChrisW]

When you're having problems with yourself, in Byrk's case it was gender identity, even the littlest negative comment can feel like a major blow.

Even if Byrk shut off the computer and ignored all of those attacks, he may still have found himself considering suicide because of his depression.

[CaptainObvious878]

This is very tragic. I can't comprehend how people can be so mean that they drive someone to suicide. I hope she's at peace now.

Forgive me if I'm being insensitive, but I have to say I wonder how long it will take certain outlets to blame this on gamergate.

[DragonKnight]

Immediately. The article contains a comment that says "I heard gamergate did it." Likely meant as a joke, but it's funny to exactly 0 people, with the exception of people who will say it's funny just because someone says it's not funny.

[subtenko]

We need to stop ONLY focusing on bullies. We need to teach people how to not listen to others..

Option A: Tell people not to be mean (only affects mean people)

Option B: Make sure kids know & learn, hey dont care what people say if its stupid dont listen to them..(bullying would have occurred, but the person wouldnt be so sensitive and phases by it.)

For all we know Captain Obvious878 for example could be a jumper because of all the downvotes. Thats what happens when people are THAT sensitive and influenced, no more of that! Stop it!

[JohnathanACE]

@CaptainObvious878

They've already started blaming Gamersgate.

https://media.8ch.net/gamer...

[abstractel]

@subtenko So we shouldn't teach kids not to be bullies? We should teach kids to put up with it? Wow... just wow.

Hey, while we are at it, lets teach kids how to tolerate pain better instead of punishing people who beat up other kids.

[subtenko]

@thunderbear

I said "ONLY" in caps...so to answer you question which was already answered...we need to do both...

But by your logic we need to stop bullying like what has been going on for over a decade with people still killing themselves over a bully...

I could casually say "Just off a bridge" in a nice way and list the benefits without being mean. Since people are so influence by what others say they will do it cause apparently people listen and head to others words that much.

and you say lets teach kids how to tolerate pain, might as well say "Oh kids you are being bullied you should feel sad and pathetic because they are being mean to you" You are part of the frikken problem...

[MEsoJD]

If one commits suicide over bullying, they either have a phycological or expectation issue (as in people have it much worse in 3rd world countries).
That said, people need to learn how to handle the Internet. My number one rule is to not take it too seriously (in most cases). As for bullies... Well think of them as your first encounter that life has conflict and you need to learn how to effectively deal with that conflict. Ok enough rambling.

[Gardenia]

Update said it wasn't bullies but that he had health issues

[Codewow]

To me they aren't just bullies here. They are a cause of death. Involuntary manslaughter right here. It's sickening.

[Death]

@Crazy and the 91 agrees, please read the story. You are doing exactly what the author asked people not do. The story has nothing to do with being bullied. It's sad that people can't read a story before commenting or forming an opinion.

[rdgneoz3]

Yep, the update basically said it was over Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid arthritis, not over bullying. Instead we have people user her death for their own agendas...

"In short, I'm not ok with my friend's death being used as a tool."

"Posting false sympathies for your Twitter followers to see that none of us who are affected will ever see isn't going to fix anything."

[Mithan]

Losers that need mental help.

[DigitallyAfflicted]

It's much easier to understand when you think about the victim and not your self.
For star trans-gender people are discriminated and reject in real life, some times by they own family as we know if people you love can't accept who you are then your self confidence problem will escalate. Going online for Rachel was a escape from brutal reality and a way to make new friends, once that stopped and turn in to bulling she had nowhere to go. Saying that you don't understand is a bad thing, we should all spend some time to try understand so we can stop this from happening to others as it is horribile waist of life... R.I.P Rachel Byrk

[RmanX1000]

I swear to god I hate the internet sometimes... The fact that people are driven to that point by idiots on their keyboards is absolutely baffling.

[LOGICWINS]

I wonder the same. I think it has a lot to do with how parents raise their kids these days. They try to make them as comfortable as possible with "If you treat people nicely, they will do the same in return" motto. They often fail to teach their kids that there will ALWAYS be people who will dislike them for no logical reason whatsoever.

I kept mostly to myself in high school and was friendly to everyone, yet there were a clique of kids that simply didn't like me. One day I noticed that my U.S Government book was missing from my locker. About a month later, my Government teacher said that he found my book shoved into a radiator. It was compressed to the point where it looked like an accordion...something that would have had to have taken an unbelievable amount of strength as the book was several inches thick with a hardcover.

As I said, I was friendly with everyone.

[extermin8or]

Obviously at the time I absolutely despised it, but being bullied by at least one person throughout my main school life for... No logical reason has its benefits I guess. It means nowadays it takes alot of crap to actually get me down, I just seem to bounce back from pretty much anything and it ones teach you how to not take crap from anyone. Guess it's a shame it doesn't effect everyone the same way aand that she couldn't just stop using the sites for awhile and then make new anonymous accounts and keep them anonymous. I believe that's the official advice from police etc. Stop visiting site for a month or two, if the problem still persists delete your accounts etc change your contact details and whatnot and create new anonymous ones if you simply can't not use the site. It's hassel yeah but I'd hope a better alternative to killing themselves :/ ofc there are usually other underlying issues.

[Dark_king]

Really we live in a world where the strong eat the weak its in are nature to fight.Its not just humans that do this most predators do this.If you have kids teach them to fight back make them strong because the world will chew them up and spit them out.life is a struggle to survive no one owes you peace that's something you must fight to achieve.

[blackblades]

Yeah, karma needs to bite all of them in the butt in the real world. People needs to stand up against them, find out who they are and put them on blast for the world to see.

[DLConspiracy]

What these kids don't understand is that there is a human being on the other end. Online is not real to these kids. War on TV isn't real. They are kids left unattended and left to spit their venom without consequence.

[rainslacker]

I'm going to put this link here since it's now buried on the 2nd page of this comment section, and actually seems pertinent to your comment. Link provided by Rachel_Alucard in comment #33

http://thecolorffooff.tumbl...

This comment section is a perfect example of people that jump to quick assumptions based on misinformation.

That being said, online bullies are the worst of the lame, and if they think they're cool because they harass others online to get some kicks, then they have real emotional problems and need to seek help.

[MakinBaconXD]

Rman,if I could agree with this more than once I would. I feel the same way about the Internet at least as it is now. I use the Internet and video games to escape toxic people like these bullies,but somehow they manage to find their way on here. And seeing comments like "suicide is for the weak,survival of the fittest!" make me wanna hulk out. I know some of them might be just some hipsters or teenage punks to be "edgy" and "ironic",but sometimes you need to know when to stop. Rest in peace,Rachel.

[St0rm_Cr0w]

This is a tragedy, no doubt, but she should have simply ignored the @$$holes. I'd be very surprised if that was the ONLY reason she killed herself. I suspect much deeper issues were at work here.

[oasdada]

V Sad indeed

[OB1Biker]

My phone made me hit disagree by mistake. Sorry about that. I found it so very sad indeed

[OhMyGandhi]

The internet can be a horrible place.
It doesn't matter how "thick" your skin is, one can take abuse only so much. Absolutely tragic.

[Gh05t]

The internet is optional abuse. No one forces anyone onto the internet to get abused. I went to google, wikipedia, amazon... never once been abused... i come to places like this where people have a voice and you have the chance of people harassing you. But no one forces me to come to this webpage everyday... It may be hard to believe for some but the social aspects of the internet are 100% optional to life. And for everyone saying it may have been part of her job... if its causing you problems its time to find a different job. My last job was physically too much for my body... so i moved on to something my body could handle. That is life. I dont like bullies but i also dont blame people for the actions taken by another with no consequence. Meaning no one forced her to get onl8ne everyday she did it to herself. If it was that bad she should have just said the internet is not for me and moved on. And bullying is not a fad its been around forever and its not going anywhere so you might aswell teach people how to deal with it like everyone has done centuries before us.

[OhMyGandhi]

so your telling me that the alternative for this person who lost her life would be, don't go on places that allow people to have a voice? In this day and age, where every website has a user account that can then be synced and shared across google+, facebook, and twitter, where it then can be further dissected by more interconnected user accounts and thumbed up/down, and replied to, where websites continue to thrive off of the activity of each and every one of its users, and said website then can become an aggregate for news building apps and tools like FlipBoard, Google Now related news, News360 and others....It is impossible to avoid the advent of communication amidst a larger community.
The problem isn't necessarily tied to bullying, but the ever increasing vocalization of borderline antisocial individuals with binary emotional reactions to often trivial things.

[Gh05t]

At the risk of sounding like an even more unsympathetic jackhole let me say she didnt "lose" her life... she wasnt murdered, she took her own life, and as someone who believes in the right to die, i dont look down at that.I do look down at people blaming others for the actions she chose. And yes if going to those places makes you want to kill yourself i believe every doctor and psychologist on earth would tell her to avoid places like that.

"...the ever increasing vocalization of borderline antisocial individuals with binary emotional reactions to often trivial things." You mean like saying you are going to kill yourself because of random people on the internet are being mean?

If im allergic to milk no matter how much i love ice cream it will still be bad to eat it... if going to social sites makes you want to kill yourself and you not only continue to go but choose to participate, the results are going to be bad.

Again im not saying bullying (i hate that word cant we all be adults and just call it harassment... bullying is a small playground problem she dealt with online harassment) So im not saying harassment is good but its a lot like the people that think you can just end hate. it will always be here no matter what. It is how we overcome adversity and support each other that matters. But im not going to look at someone who commits suicide and feel bad... that is a disservice to thier final choice.

[OhMyGandhi]

I certainly appreciate what you wrote there, and I understand your argument. For me, this person's suicide was upsetting because everyone knows harassment.
Hell, now the article updated to mention that it may have been due to health related problems, which is infinitely more tragic.

EDIT: I ended up writing more, but now that the article has no idea as to the extenuating circumstances, I'll just leave it at that.

[Articuno76]

I'm not so sure I can believe that it's easy to ignore bullying for someone because it's on the internet. Not when you consider how key the internet is in many people's lives these days - doubly so for people involved in videogames who have to take the feedback of others plugged into it seriously.

For many people, increasingly the internet isn't a place to kill their spare time, but where they make their living and stake their character doing so.

[Gh05t]

The internet is optional to life. Everything you mentioned is still a choice. I dont have to work a tech job i could go flip burgers, mow the grass, use my roughneck training and rig pass to work in the oil fields, commercial truck driver, farmer... In the land that says you can be anything you only limit yourself. If you limit yourself to being online only you do that to yourself no one forces anyone online. Just because people dont know how to disconnect doesnt mean that the internet is the only option.

[Articuno76]

We aren't talking about being online only, but online being an impossible to avoid part of many jobs. This isn't about not knowing how to disconnect, it's about connection being an integral part of what they do.

I think it's a bit unreasonable to expect people to drastically alter their career course to cut out the internet (or any other emerging medium).

And cutting out the internet doesn't solve the issue, it simply changes the potential hostile zone you might be working in from a digital one to a physical one - the fundemental issue doesn't change.

We aren't talking about wading into a radioactive pit here. The dangerous elements are people with volition, that we can act upon and change.

Don't you think you have the target of your ire a little backwards? If anything surely it's the bullies that should be sticking to real-life... where they won't have the guts to fling nonsense at people.

[Rimeskeem]

R.I.P

Another talented person gone from the world forever :(

[MetroidFREAK21]

Don't feel any remorse for any person who commits suicide... If it gets to that point, then damn... You seriously need to just walk away

[DragonKnight]

You need to understand that suicide is not something a weak person does. Suicide quite literally requires either the greatest amount of strength, or a condition that simply removes all the biological imperatives we are built with to prevent self-harm. Our bodies are programmed to stop us from harming and killing ourselves. A person who overcomes that does so either through sheer force of will, or due to medical problems they have no control over. You think it's an easy thing to kill yourself? First of all, there is the overwhelming fear, that which is innate in all of us but also the knowledge that you won't be alive any more.

There's also the feeling of incredible shame. This idea that you've let everyone down, that you've let life bring you to this point.

There's the feeling of absolute hopelessnes, of not knowing how to make all of these other feelings just stop and go away. You feel like you've tried it all but everything and everyone is just against you being happy.

So I have to disagree with you. I do feel remorse for people who commit suicide. I feel remorse because they felt it had to come to that, because there are so many people in this world who just completely suck and drive people to feeling like that. Hell, even though I don't know this person and have no reason to expect that if I did we'd get along or not, I feel remorse that I couldn't help her to see that for every piece of scum that can destroy her faith in humanity, there's always someone else willing to try to restore it.

[MetroidFREAK21]

TL;DR

So... My response is "lol k"

[FunAndGun]

well said DragonKnight.

[DragonKnight]

@MetroidFREAK21: I'm sorry that you have an attention span problem, but there are medications to fix it. I suggest you speak to your parents about arranging a visit with your family doctor.

[Nio-Nai]

There are also times when you just CAN'T walk away. While not online I have had two co-workers commit suicide because of their jobs, which they are bound to for 4 years at a time.. One left his wife and two daughters.. The other was a close friend I worked with on a daily basis.

And the thing is neither of them showed the "Signs" that most people consider to be suicidal.

[uso]

I 100% agree with you and given the right circustances any one is capable of everting.

Only foolish people think otherwise

[rainslacker]

I have to disagree with you on this one Dragon. Committing suicide does not take strength. It is the last resort which means that the person has simply given up. Strength comes from overcoming your problems and resolving them in a manner that means you can go on despite everything that may keep you down.

I feel remorse that people who commit suicide were not able to find the help or resolution that they truly needed to be able to overcome their opressive state, but I feel no sympathy for those that don't seek the help they need.

I would only do that if those people actually did seek out that help and the help they got was ineffectual or damaging. This happens a lot with people who seek help from their friends who are too selfish or ill-equipped to handle such things, and most of the times, the warning signs are there.

There are people with mental issues that I can feel remorse for, because that is something completely different. Depression though is treatable, and only requires the person want to get better, which can be extremely hard to come to terms with.

It is rare that people would commit suicide over one thing. Suicidal states of mind come from long oppressive states of mind, and then they are pushed even further by the rest of the world closing in around them, and it gets to a point that just seems impossible to overcome. I've been there myself. I went over the edge, and luckily I was brought back. I got the help I needed, and I will never say that the attempt was the act of a strong person, because I was truly weak because I simply stopped trying. There is fear, but that is overshadowed by the fear that you will have to face another day. And it becomes a thought worse than death.

I won't speak about what I feel on this topic, because it's not something that should be based on assumptions and hit-mongering headlines. Shame on any media that would exploit such a tragedy.

[DragonKnight]

@rainslacker: If you think committing suicide doesn't take strength, then try to cut off your own finger. Just one day sit down at a table with a knife and try to do it. I guarantee you won't be able to. Why? Because in order to do it you either have to have the mental fortitude to overcome the body's natural proclivity to stop you from harming yourself, have a mental condition that shuts that off, or be under the influence of some heavy drugs. It is a documented fact that one cannot simply harm themselves, it goes against every fiber of our being.

There's also the fact that a person willing to commit suicide is someone who has been strong for too long, to the point they can no longer handle the daily pain they go through. I have actually prevented someone from committing suicide myself. The woman I prevented from killing herself unloaded all of her problems on me, and you'd be surprised just how much someone can hold back from the people they love and care about the most. Regrets, fears, and disappointment from so far back in their lives that they didn't want to burden anyone else with, pain they felt would be horrible to put anyone else through.

Every foundation, no matter how strongly it's built, can and will buckle under enough weight. Suicide is not the absence of strength, it is the end result of a long struggle to keep yourself up and finally the weight of everything bearing down on you becomes too much for you to bear and your own foundation crumbles. I can never, and will never view a person who has reached the point of suicide as someone who is weak and selfish. I can't because I know better, I've seen it, and no one will convince me that people who have kept their pain inside them for so long are weak people.

[Spotie]

It DOES require a massive amount of strength to end your own life. I remember that I used to actually criticize myself for being too weak to even kill myself, when I was in the throes of my depression. A lot of the reason you feel trapped is because you can't take whatever is causing you to suffer, but you can't escape it, either.

It's just something that's kinda hard to really understand if you haven't been through it, but it's in no way an easy thing to do. If it were, I'd have been dead and gone some 20 years ago.

[rainslacker]

I believe it takes an extreme ammount of willpower to end your own life, but not strength. As I've said, I've gone through the attempt, but my timing was such that random chance saved my life. I don't need to try to cut off my own finger to know what it takes to take an extreme measure.

I don't disagree that people that are driven to that point have tried to be strong for a long time. Fighting against what is bringing you down takes strength, which is what I was originally saying. Finding the strength to overcome that is something I can respect, and why I can find remorse when a person who seeks the help of others can not find it because I know exactly how it feels when you can't.

I'm glad you were able to help someone, but at the same time, many people are ill-equipped to handle such things. Even the people closest to me were unable to do so, and I know it was very awkward for them to even broach the subject.

I don't consider people with depression weak, nor did I mean to imply such a thing, simply the act of suicide is the final moment where people have lost what remained of their strength and take another way out. I'm not unsympathetic to their plight, but I'm not remorseful to those that would go to that length, because ultimately, there are options out there to help even if not immediately obvious.

Anyhow, between this comment drudging up memories, and others which I don't care to get in to, I really don't feel like discussing this particular thing anymore. I said my piece, we'll agree to disagree should you feel differently, and continue on like normal

[DragonKnight]

@rainslacker: I'm not in the habit of forcing painful memories on people so I'll respect your wish not to discuss it further except to say that willpower and strength are synonyms.

[bumnut]

@ DragonKnight

Im shocked and disgusted so many people disagree with your comment.

As for Metroid........ I read his first comment and thought he was uninformed, after reading his second comment I have changed my mind, he is an insensitive asshole.

[Death]

It's absurd that anyone would feel taking your own life is a sign of strength. Being strong would be enduring the pain. Being strong would be thinking of how your actions will affect others. It sucks that anyone should suffer to be strong, but that is typically what strength is.

Taking your life is the easy way out. I won't argue if it is right or wrong, but it is the easy out. The reason it is hard to cut your own finger off is you have to live with the pain. When was the last time you seen or read about someone stabbing themselves in the stomach so they bleed out slowly and painfully? It's typically a gsw to the head. This is to avoid pain and go quickly.

From the story we are commenting on, this person was in constant physical pain. They had enough of the pain and decided to take their own life to stop it. This was a personal decision and not one that we can all justify. This wasn't a result of being bullied like many here are running with. There were people upset when Rachel said good bye. Some of these people handled the news very poorly and made stupid comments. People grieve differently. Some try to rationalize, some lash out.

[DragonKnight]

@Death: Clearly you're living in a position of ignorance. The reason you can't cut off your finger is not because you have to live with the pain. You don't know the pain until it occurs. You can't cut off your finger because it's self-harm. It's something your body is programmed to NOT do as it's counter to survival. Ending your life is not easy. It is never the easy way out. It is an end result, not a consideration. It comes after unbelievable pain and suffering which is not easy. Personally speaking, I am resentful of people who believe that strength means putting yourself through endless pain and suffering. Strength has many definitions, and while it's true that overcoming obstacles makes you stronger because you then know that you can do it and do it again if you have to, it's not a sign of weakness to endure obstacle after obstacle until you've finally reached your limit and can't endure any more.

EVERYONE has their limits. Absolutely everyone. To suggest that they don't, that they have to perpetually endure pain in order to be considered strong is one of the very few things I find to be personally offensive. It's that kind of attitude that makes things worse. Telling people to think of other people merely creates a condition where you have to accept the selfishness of others, their feelings over yours, because their pain matters more than yours does. It eliminates the very real fact that every person who has ever attempted, and/or succeeded at suicide ALWAYS thinks of their loved ones in their final moments.

To suggest that people who have endured such pain, to suggest that the complete override of all biological defenses against self-harm in order to commit a final end to personal pain is a sign of cowardice and weakness is offensive, disgusting, and complete minimalization and/or dismissal of the struggles those people go through and have gone through to finally end up to that point.

Feel free to act callously to people in pain. I never will accept them as being weak or selfish. I will accept them as having had to be strong for too long and never feeling like they could be helped or feeling like it would be wrong to place their burdens on others. And I'm sorry, but the feelings of people who aren't in that position, who don't have that pain every day to come to that point, those people who you think that should be considered first so as to not commit suicide to spare them pain, they don't matter to me. What matters is doing whatever I could to make that person feel like they do matter, that they are important, and that someone can help them through their pain.

The idea of trying to help someone by making them feel like crap because someone else will be in pain is a terrible way to try and help someone. It never works. All you do is make someone who already feels horrible feel worse.

[Death]

DK,

Everyone has to make their own choices in life as they do in death. I won't argue this. Calling someone strong because they committed suicide is borderline obscene.

If two people suffer from the same condition equally and one decides to take their own life, which person do you view as stronger? A mother that suffers from postpartum depression that decides to drown her children in a bathtub and then take her own life, is she strong? A vet suffering from PTSD that eats a bullet, still strong? What about those that choose to live thru pain for those that love them? If suicide is a sign of strength, then are these people weak?

I'm sorry, I do not see suicide as taking strength to accomplish. In many times it is a very selfish, cowardly and cruel act. Perhaps it took courage and strength on Rachel's part to take her life. Perhaps medication adjustments could also have helped. I don't know her or her situation. Only those close to her know if she was being strong or not.

[DragonKnight]

@Death Your comments are obscene. Taking your own life is not something that's easy to do. It's not a simple matter of "well, my life sucks. I think I'll just end it." That's exactly how you're categorizing it. As some matter of fact event that just happens. You completely dismiss all the internal suffering of people whose road ends at suicide. Calling it cowardly means you think that the only way for someone to be strong is to put themselves through perpetual pain. Yes, you are even saying this about Rachel. This woman was going to live in persistent, unending pain. There is no cure for RH or Fibromyalgia. In fact, Fibromyalgia is a condition that defies even being detected and one can only be diagnosed with it once all other possible conditions have been eliminated as a possibility.

It is not strength to live your life in perpetual pain and remain alive so that you don't cause other people to feel grief. There is no effective treatment for Fibromyalgia. Pain meds don't work. Having both RH and Fibromyalgia is a life long sentence in unending pain and you dismissing that pain by likening suicide to cowardly and selfish is quite disgusting.

Absolutely no one that commits suicide is weak. Absolutely no one that commits suicide is a coward. If they were weak, they couldn't commit suicide. If they were a coward they couldn't commit suicide. Why? Because those characteristics are precisely what the body will use to PREVENT suicide. Fear and a lack of self-assuredness wash over anyone attempting to commit suicide, as well as how their loved ones will feel afterwards. Believing that people actually don't care about all of those factors is obscene, disgusting, and inhumane.

Your definition of strength is also disgusting, as it requires shifting from what you consider to be selfish, that being the desires of the person who is actually suffering, to the selfishness of others. Why the hell should the person in pain live their lives in pain so that OTHER PEOPLE don't have to feel bad? They aren't the ones in pain, they aren't the ones suffering.

I'm done talking to you specifically about this. I don't want to get upset enough to say something I shouldn't. Good day.

[Death]

DK,

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens. They are not taking their lives because they are "strong". There are many factors that can lead to suicide. Giving in to your shame, guilt, and hopelessness is what leads to suicide. You aren't using your strength to overcome these feeling so you can commit suicide, you are simply giving up. If you or anyone else is thinking suicide is the answer, please click these links.

http://www.afsp.org/
http://www.teensuicide.us/i...

[MakinBaconXD]

Metroidfreak,how can you be so callous?

[user7402931]

thats messed up, people say awful things online

[ilikepizza]

wait,so she literally jumped off a bridge? i was just on that bridge yesterday,crazy.

[2pacalypsenow]

Should of stayed off the Internet.

[WeAreLegion]

Should have stayed in school.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Very sad. My heart goes out to her friends and family.

[Toon_Link]

So sad. It's crazy to think people put so much energy into hatred towards others. It's too bad that things like this happen.

[gamejediben]

I'm sorry to hear about this but... a wise man once said... The best revenge is living well.

Killing yourself just lets the bullies know that they won. Now they'll just go do it to someone else.

[kenshiro100]

That's also true.

[crazed_shadow27]

For those saying that suicide is for the weak, you are absolutely wrong. I've read a comment a while ago that talked about depression, anxiety and panic attacks and that those people are not weak, they have tried remaining strong for far too long. I can relate cause I've had a troubling stretch in my life to where it is hard to put on a smile despite how much you hurt. There are a lot deeper things beyond what people see that can trouble a person. Many don't have anyone to turn to. This is even worse online, where every one hides behind a screen name and avatar. If it was your real name and real profile picture posted here would you be saying the same things. At least in real life, people keep their mouths shut cause they known its not polite and that they'll look like assholes insulting someone, but on the internet those inhibitions are gone. Some say not to go online and read these things, but when part of your life, hobby and career is online then it can be hard to avoid. And this is such a shame, especially for a member of the gaming community who has helped us out with her contribution to the Dolphin emulator.

[kenshiro100]

I deal with anxiety as well and and I have been bullied when I was in elementary school so I know how it feels firsthand.

I agree with you 100%.

I pray for this young lady's soul but also for her family and the friends she left behind as well, that they may find comfort through their time of grief.

[Death]

Are you alive today because you were too weak to end your life or are you alive today because you were strong enough to move on?

For what it is worth, according to the article we are commenting on, Rachel didn't take her life because of online bullying. It was due to medical issues she had been dealing with for quite some time. She lost her strength and will to live. The author of this story doesn't want people blaming the wrong reasons and using it for their own causes. Sadly, not many cared enough to actually read the story. The irony is this only shows how much people really don't care about one another. You guys cared, but not enough to actually click the link and find out why Rachel committed suicide.

[General Shrooms]

if you're that sensitive, you shouldn't be on the web

[ScorpiusX]

My condolences to friends and those who knew her.

Now to my fellow gamers we can't let this go without any kind of consequences to those that bullied this individual. We need to create safe guards against this childish act. Thru reason I say we as gamers and the industry must do something before our ability to do something is taken from us by Gray haired politicians who have been trying to peg the industry as harmful.

Jm2cents

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Any loss of life is sad.

[StevenSeagul]

Rest in peace.

(I'm not sure if RIP is the right thing to say towards someone who commits suicide.)

[DarkBlood]

Id say it is, may this person find peace in the afterlife where it couldn't be found on earth

[Death]

My father who I also consider to be a very good friend tried to end his life multiple times while battling cancer. The oncologist said he couldn't extend my fathers life, but he could make him more comfortable while he lived. I got to watch my father die slowly and very painfully for almost a year. Every day there was less and less of him left. Early on I thought it was horrible that he even considered taking his own life. I was selfish and wanted him to live longer. It's not an evil selfishness, it was simply the love I had for him. In retrospect I wish I had never convinced him to do the treatment which did extend his life and pain. Prior to experiencing this first hand with a loved one I would have been against euthanasia very strongly. Today, I think we should all have a choice in how we live and in how we die. It's a personal choice we all have to make and not one we can simply make blanket statements about and say it applies to everyone.

[Swiggins]

I don't care who you are, what you believe in, or what experiences you've had in your life.

If you bully a person into committing suicide, you're a scumbag of the highest caliber, and I sincerely hope the universe finds a way to drop a ****ing meteorite onto your house...

[TwoForce]

Everyone have their price. And you are no exception. I learned that long time ago. Freedom of speech can become a weapon and this is not a troll. People use that power for whatever they want and killed some people. I called it " untouchable kill". We need to move on and accept the way of life. But make sure that we will never repeat this crisis again. We have to help other people who are in pain.

[nix]

ah... such a sad thing to hear.

[G3n3raL86]

Damn... Rest in peace.

[comebackkid9891]

God rest his soul.

[Rebel_Scum]

Transgender mate, he identifies as a she so its God rest her soul.

[DasTier]

Maybe you need a biology lesson.

[TekKing]

I identify as a rhinoceros.

[Javery]

I'm Batman.

[Gwiz]

This description is BS,people commit suicide because of bullying in general.

[MrChow666]

very sad, the internet is becoming a sick place full of @ssholes

[hkgamer]

im afraid people towards transgendered are assholes even more so in the real world. its tragic and digusting but i cant imagine the shit they go through everyday of their life.

obviously internet people are assholes, but i guess i am old enough to say that i blame it all on the youngsters that should know better and should have been educated better.

[Rachel_Alucard]

This article is misinformation and so is the destructoid one. She didn't commit suicide because of harassment.

http://thecolorffooff.tumbl...

Nice job destructoid you hijacked a story for hits

[rainslacker]

Maybe the mods could put this link up in an update link in the description header so people who read this can actually see this article.

We all know we'll be seeing this as an example of things to come down the line, and it would be nice if people could understand the real reasons, because I actually agree with the author of this blog, that it's a disservice to the victim to misrepresent why they did it, and even worse to use it to further a political cause that has no connection to it.

[46889337]

Unsurprising coming from sites like destructoid. They've demonstrated several times that they have no problem using lies and misinformation to make the gaming community look like savages to push their pro feminist agenda.

But I'm more disgusted by the ignorant posters on this site claiming that it's okay to commit suicide solely because someone said something bad about them over the internet.

[kenshiro100]

I should have known there was something else behind the story.

Thanks for the clarification. Whoever published this story with that headline should be shamed of themselves.

[coolbeans]

Just wanted to drop by and thank you personally for that information. :)

(Sorry that this is very late)

[justlikeme]

Thank you for your work on the Dolphin emulator software.

R.I.P.

[Wii_nes_007]

Everyone seems to have a PhD in Psychology here.

[Qrphe]

Psychology and biology as well as sociocultural studies. Talk about immature users.

[Pandamobile]

I like to believe that N4G is mostly made up of 12-17 year olds. The amount of stupid, immature and downright scary mindsets that people have around here...

These are not things that rational and intelligent human beings should say, so it's best to chalk it up to lack of life experience on their parts.

[Elda]

It's sad when people don't have thick skin,confidence & high self esteem.You either let a cyber bully have it with a good lashing of verbal assault but with intelligent class or just ignore them which is usually the best way to go,ignoring a idiot is usually bliss.

[DasTier]

This comment section is full of strange opinions.

Firstly its sad a young person has died, but taking you own life is the most cowardly thing you can do.

However, I hardly think its surprising that he took his own life considering his state of mind regarding his gender.

Our societies are pushing younger and younger people to make these damaging life changes that should never be done. we should be trying to help them instead of the enabling them.

[WitWolfy]

OMG THATS DEVASTATING!! I hope the hope who did this die of testicular cancer.

[Javery]

Ironically, she could have died from that very cancer.

[Relientk77]

R.I.P. that's so sad

[arbitor365]

As many people pointed out, there is more to this story than "cyberbullying." There were many real life issues that led to this.

But once again, the media sensationalizes this imaginary pandemic of "cyberbulling" as being the sole cause of people offing themselves.

[Vanfernal]

Stating a person commits suicide due to health reasons doesn't get nearly as much hits as saying it was due to bullying. What a sensationalist title.

[Javery]

The suicide rate for transgender persons is over 20% greater than that of non transgendered persons. Some attribute this to bullying, but the truth is these individuals were already very troubled. You can mutilate yourself until you resemble someone of another gender, but you will never be other than what you were born. Sadly, the death tag at the coroner's office will not indicate "female".

[Tsubasa-Oozora]

I totally agree. I think transgender people are mentally ill but so are the kids that made fun of him/bullied him.

Transgender people already have a lot to deal with mentally, bullying just took it overboard

PS: just found out through his friend he had a serious crippling disease and it got worse over time. He couldn't take the pain and he wanted to go, sad...

[shmeedy24685]

People can be cruel. It says in the update that health issues was the factor in her decision to take her life, cyber bullying wouldn't have helped. RIP Rachel Byrk.

[Menkyo]

Way to click bait profit off someones death you POS

[Elronza]

This is beyond sad especially because most people use games and the gaming community to escape the stresses troubles of real life! This is a loss for all of us of someone special and a blight on the gaming community because of what caused this loss of life!

[lildudexst]

Just sad. Like i told my friend who also a tran. Let her know if people not saying it in your face. Just dont weste your time.Told her/him life is valuable ,time is valuable. Be who you want to be. At the end Money in your pocket you will have your friends your life.

[Dogswithguns]

Man, that's sad.. Now I have to say, don't ever kill yourself over people comments on the internet, they're nothing but a bunch of stupid.

[harbie]

Exactly, weak minded people who can't deal with problems in their life commit suicide, other people do not cause suicide. These free-speech hit parades are ridiculous.

[Rydro]

Only losers bully others because they have nothing to do with their lives.. LOSERS

[outsider1624]

RIP Rachel...

[Tctczach]

As someone who lost someone extremely close to me you have a weird understanding and hate for people who do this. It's extremely selfish and harms others more than they know. There's always a better solution than suicide.

[BudokaiGamer]

As a victim of bullying, mostly physical when I was a kid, I hate to see people get bullied! But I am with Tyler the Creator on the subject of Internet Bullies. Just turn off the monitor and walk away.

I know that's not how everyone is, and I hate to see victims take their own lives. It's very sad!

[DVAcme]

This story is being blown WAY out of proportion and misleading. Rachel Byrk had rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, both extremely painful chronic conditions. Byrk was in constant, excruciating pain, with even walking around causing her pain. I'm an army medic and nurse, and I've seen the ridiculous pain just ONE of those conditions causes, having both at the same time must literally be a living hell where any common every day activity is tainted by constant pain. It is understandable that she'd take her life, considering she had no real good quality of life.

Now I'm not saying the Gamergate thing and cyberbullying are not dreadful, because they TOTALLY are, but we need responsible newscasting here, and this is NOT gaming news to instantly make it about games. She's just a human being who was in constant pain who decided to end her life instead of living with the indignity of constant pain. She just happened to be a game developer. It was incidental to her suicide, not causal. Was there cyberbullying against her? Yes, and it's fucking shameful. Did she take her life BECAUSE of cyberbullying? My guess is no. Did cyberbullying guide her decision? Maybe, but I think she would have taken her life regardless. Maybe cyberbullying just gave her that last bit of motivation to go ahead and do it, but she probably would have done it regardless.

Again, I am NOT dismissing cyberbullying here at all, I still think it's an attitude that goes from immature to downright fucking evil many times, but blaming her suicide on cyberbullies is taking the focus of the story away from her and putting it on other people. Let's at least mourn her death and not read the reasons behind it, that's the last piece of human compassion we can provide her.

[masterfox]

that sucks, but why is everyone referring to him as her ? isn't a man ?

I think we are not seeing the whole picture here on why exactly he suicide.

[Mroc13]

Is it he or she?

[DVAcme]

Transgender. Born a man, became a woman.

I call her "her" cause it's what she'd have wanted, and I respect people's rights to identify themselves as the gender they're more comfortable with. I'm not very tolerant of bigotry, considering I've been on the receiving end of it often enough.

[Mroc13]

You can't become anything other than what you were born. He was born XY and he died XY

[Stallion]

>her

[JohnathanACE]

*Him. You can't change chromosomes.

https://img.4plebs.org/boar...

[Stallion]

my statement

____________

your head

[hkgamer]

update seems to say it wasnt due to cyber bullying and more of a health concern. but still cyber bullying is cruel especially for someone who probably gets bullied by society on a daily basis.

im not perfect and i would probably without a doubt look at a trangendered in a funny way. if it was a family member or friend i wouldnt know what i would do. but the online world shouldnt look at people this way. we all are basically a person sitting in front of a pc, why would/should gender become an issue?

[DVAcme]

"but the online world shouldnt look at people this way. we all are basically a person sitting in front of a pc, why would/should gender become an issue?"

Right on the money, bubble for you.

[Android]

People need to respect each other a bit more. This world is messed up.

[TwitchForFun]

The writer, should not make it sound like cyber bullying was the cause. I did not see anything from your source, that said, how they past or the cause.

I'm sure just being a cross-gender person is not easy, online or off. I'm not sure what happened to this person, but I hope they finally found peace.

[WizzroSupreme]

I'd like to hope that people could read stories like this and think twice about why they feel the urges to be jerk like the do. But it's not that of a perfect world, certainly not if it still has stories like these in them. The most we can do is share her story and lead by example in our own small ways, because what else is there to do? That should be enough to ask of any decent human beings. That's what a lot of us might ask in return when we're all gone, isn't it?

[Dragonopolis]

I don't have time to read all comments so if I repeat what someone said then think of this as reinforcement of what others have said......

Cyber bullying is about control .... if we let them get away with it or just ignore it..... it will only escalate. If certain people find out that they can easily manipulate who is online and where those people visit by Cyber bullying you then have a small group of people controlling the internet traffic.

Cyber bullies often don't stop at one site they often will hunt for the person no matter where they go so the person is always looking over their shoulder.

What's worse is that there are still people out there that believe everything they see/hear regardless of how much we know the internet is full of lies and misinformation. While not Cyber Bullying these people will often help spread whatever info the Cyber bully uses to get at the person.

Cyber Bullying in my opinion is no better than rape or terrorism. Like Rape is about control not the sex or terrorism not really about some higher purpose its about control..... Cyber Bullying is about control

Everyone has their limits and buttons that can be pushed and unfortunately some are easier to push than others and it sounds like this developer had issues that wouldn't take much to push regardless if there was Cyber bullying or not..... Still no excuse to Cyber Bully...

in my opinion cyber bullies need to be found and punish just like rapist and terrorist...

But I'm a hard a.... what do I know

Peace

[rainslacker]

"Cyber bullies often don't stop at one site they often will hunt for the person no matter where they go so the person is always looking over their shoulder."

I would like to say that the term cyberbullying is often misused nowadays to mostly include the ones that simply do stop at one site(or outlet), and do not go around following their target. The persistent harasser is very rare, and more often than not is going to be someone with personal connections to their target in real life where they would have the information they need to be able to follow someone around like that.

I find it very hard to believe that thousands upon thousands of people are being followed around the internet in such a way by individuals who have very little information to go on.

because of this, the common trolling that goes on on a daily basis, and the individual "attacks" which can be made up of a lot of people in the right forums, get misconstrued as bullying. When you add many different people together, all doing what they do individually, and then say it constitutes directed bullying, it comes across as disingenuous, and is the reason the whole idea that people should actually just tune out has become a thing. The term cyber-bullying has marginalized the idea of directed attacks and harassment.

In other words, the common troll who says stupid hateful things and you never hear from them again has been lumped into this cyber-bully category, when that is simply not what bullying is...it's just people saying stupid things because they are trolls. The best example of this is with Anita Sarkeesian. She says something which gets people riled up. Lots of people lash out, say things(sometimes very mean and hateful things) once, then all of a sudden gamers are hateful bullys who like to harass women, when in reality it's simply a bunch of people expressing their opinion...sometimes in a very nasty way.

[iTechHeads]

He CHOSE to become transgender so he brought this bullying on himself. I don't care if he thought he was a girl trapped in a boys body. That's just some sort of delusion. It's something that needs to be treated with medication and/or therapy, not body transforming surgery.

As for killing yourself because of "bullying". That's just silly. It's just words. Words you can block with a click of a button on your social profile. There's also the ultimate way to block cyber bullying, delete your online social profiles.

So I don't think that "bullying" was the reason for this suicide. It was most likely a result of this person's poor decisions in life combined with a very low self-esteem.

[Pandamobile]

Cool victim blaming, bro.

[Underworld]

Wow I can't believe you're getting upvotes. Do you honestly think they just wake up one day and think "I wanna be a girl now". I suppose you think gay people choose to be gay too. So ignorant.

[F0XHOUND]

Tragic news :( while those bullying her get nothing from their online bs .... she ended up killing herself. Awful story, even if it wasn't all the bullying that caused it, nobody deserves to feel like the answer is suicide. :(

[IrisHeart]

Who?

Anyway RIP.

[Dunban67]

Please read the update - It was not from cyber bullying but health related issues-

The groups using this death for political gain will surely be disappointed but they are as much cyber bullies as anyone for tarnishing her name and trying to leverage it for their own personal agenda- sickening and DAMN why do people jump to conclusions so easily and believe everything they read on the internet when there is often little to back up what is written and presented as journalism online?

[hangdang]

Really weird that a man who wants to be a woman had some type of illness. Gonna go out on a limb and guess it was a mental illness

[Nottheguyyouwant]

.

[PurpHerbison]

Very sad to hear.

"Someone close to Rachel Bryk states ongoing health issues being the cause, though also not negating online harassment may have contributed to this decision"

So we don't know for sure..?

[coolbeans]

Sorry to be so late in responding. I was trying to re-word it in a way that fit with the trajectory of tumblr blog in fewer words. If you click the link you'll see the health issues, both of which related to chronic pain, are what Byrk specifically said.

[kenwonobi]

This is sad. She looked like a nice person and that is all that matters. Those people should be ashamed.

[The7Reaper]

RIP.
but suicide is the coward way out she should have fought the haters and bullies with her chin up and kept on doing her thing that pisses a bully/troll off more than anything show them it has no affect on you.

[deathcake]

That's a guy. Not even a hot guy.

[NarfleGarthok]

These bullies should be found and charged with manslaughter.

[overrated44]

Can we re-title this article "Author Uses Depressed Person's Suicide and Turn it Into a Hitpiece"?

[WhiteGamerInc]

That is some stuff man. Ashame someone had to do that due to online bullying. Whoever insulted that person should have to see what suicide really is. They would never dare to tell anyone else to go kill themselves ever again

[Drithe]

He didnt kill himself because he was bullied. He killed himself because he realized that no matter how much he wanted, dreamed, and pretended to be a girl ...... he still had a penis and was still a guy. Deal with reality and live in it. Best way to do it. Don't listen to Walt Disney and the gay day parade following closely behind.

[Pandamobile]

What's it like to be so edgy at the age of 13?

[JCOLE13195]

I can't believe some of the comments of the insensitive people who can't see beyond themselves. Simply unbelievable. Calling her "weak" and other bulls**t. You all weren't in her shoes suffering from depression and other health issues. You all have no idea how she must've felt. So shut your mouths.

[BLAKHOODe]

I'd like to know more about cyber-bullying. I get it if you actually know the people doing the bullying, like if they were co-workers or school mates, but if it's just some random person/stranger, why not hit the block button?

[BLAKHOODe]

He should have asked himself...

"What would CliffyB do?"

[Vanakka]

Who cares if she was Cyber bullied she could of just ignored them. They are just words on a page.

As to her health condition that is a sad story but suicide is never then answer that's the easy way out. Every one is following the way of Robin Williams.

[Stogz]

No matter what the full reason was, telling people to kill themselves online is unacceptable behavior. I dont know what is wrong with people today, but if you tell someone to do that and they do, I hope it haunts you for the rest of your life...

[Zancruz]

A dude killed his self, it's not a big deal... Tons of people die every single day in far worse ways, death is the only thing is guaranteed in life and he chose to end his so I can not nor won't feel sorry for him.

[snoopgg]

He or she should have reached out to Bruce Jenner. He had thought about killing himself at one time.

[shaw98]

May God rest his soul. :( Poor guy.

[Tankbusta40]

Sounds like this person had some deep issues.

[Me-Time]

What is wrong with those people? There are a great number of this gaming "community" that don't belong if they think harassing anyone for who they are is how people should behave. I have trouble understanding this. I do know that it's wrong. If any one of us comes across these types of THUGS who screw people's lives up, PLEASE, speak up and don't let those pricks ruin people's lives. Imagine.Just be kind.
Imagine if someone you cared about was affected by another in this kind of way. It's horrible. Inhumane, cruel and completely not what people should behave like. PLEASE, speak up against the cruelty that she and others deal with

[spiddyman007]

I like how everyone's calling the dude a she. That is all.

[Underworld]

It's called respect. Transsexual people don't just wake up one day and decide they want to be a man or a woman. They were born like that and are usually aware of it at a very young age. I'm not an expert but studies have shown that a MTF transsexuals brain more closely resembles a females, and a FTM resembles a males. They don't identify with their physical sex. Sex and gender are not as simple as some seem to believe. And they definitely don't just choose to feel this way.

[ibrake4naps]

Prayers to his family

[Sakkaku]

I bet you she was taking hormones, must've fucked up her mind quite a bit. It does that to some people.