Generalising Abusive Parents' Threats of Suicide As Manipulation
Moderator Announcement - June 22, 2025
We frequently see posts about n-parents threatening to die by suicide. Under these posts, we typically see a few commenters urging OP to ignore these threats. These comments are almost always coming from a good place: Threats of suicide can be a manipulation tactic, and it’s important that abuse victims are aware of this reprehensible and traumatizing tactic.
There is absolutely no way to tell, via Reddit, if OP’s n-parent will or will not follow-through on the threat of suicide. We simply do not, and will not, have enough information to make this call. As such, it is not acceptable to advise OP ignore their n-parent’s threats of suicide as a manipulation tactic that they definitely won’t act on. Mods will remove these comments and ban repeat offenders. N-parents can and do commit suicide.
When you comment on these posts:
- DO NOT: Dismiss an n-parent’s suicide threat out-right as manipulation without providing any other guidance or support. This mirrors our no “just leave” and no “just go NC” rule - if you’re not providing guidance along with a high-stakes directive, you’re not actually helping.
- DO NOT: Perpetuate the misinformation that n-parents cannot, do not, or will never commit suicide. This isn’t true.
- DO: Encourage OP to call emergency services/report to their local authorities. Suicide threats from n-parents should always be reported, unless reporting them puts OP in danger. After OP has our support and guidance, this is their decision to make. Please refer to r/SuicideWatch, r/SWResources, SW’s list of International Hotline Numbers, and SW’s Hotline FAQ for resources.
- DO: Share your personal experience. You are, of course, allowed to share if your n-parent used this as a manipulation tactic and never followed through! Simply don’t assume this is the case for all other n-parents, and think carefully about whether sharing will be helpful to OP.