alt.suicide.holiday Introduction

The alt.suicide.holiday Usenet newsgroup featured discussions about life, depression and suicide. However, a.s.h was special in that suicide is legitimate both as a desire and an action. Suicide was not encouraged but is also not denounced. Thus, the atmosphere permitted open expression. A.s.h was not a support group in the normal sense, but paradoxically it gave many readers strength to carry on.

However, since the middle of 2002, the number of predators and abusive elements on alt.suicide.holiday have steadily increased on the unmoderated newsgroup, and as a consequence, it is not safe to openly express a pro-choice opinion there. This has had the effect of driving away many people who once found the alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup therapeutic and beneficial to their lives.

Read the following FAQs for more information, but note that these are an idealization of what many people wanted Ash to be.

What was ash? What was it about? What was it good for? Part 1 of the ASH FAQ, answers these questions and provides an introduction to the community. We also explain what ash is not.

Part 2 of the FAQ describes the way ashers talk and behave online, whereas Part 3 offers an explanation to those who question whether ash is genuine.

There are other texts which provide slightly different points of view, such as the synopsis on the main ash web site . That site also contains many other explanations, of the "ash mindset", taken directly from posts to Usenet.

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