An Accusation Is Not an Identity: Trying to Understand the Claim Behind Suicidal Distress.
There is a difficult question at the heart of the continuing arguments that take place on social media: why would being called something you know you are not make you want to end your life? I ask that question because I have experienced something similar myself. For years, I have been called a paedophile by people on YouTube. I reject the allegation completely. I know who I am, I know what I have done and, most importantly, I know what I have not done. Being called something does not magically transform me into that thing. If somebody repeatedly shouted that I was an astronaut, I would not suddenly become an astronaut. If somebody called me a murderer, I would not become a murderer. And if somebody falsely called me a paedophile, I would not become one simply because they repeated the accusation a thousand times. That is the way I personally process such accusations: the allegation belongs to the person making it; my identity belongs to me. But perhaps that is precisely where the diffi...
