Twitter's #DeadPose trend 'insensitive, offensive'

Twitter was filled yesterday with bizarre photos of people striking various poses - as corpses.

The hashtag #DeadPose was trending as people posted macabre, and some humorous, images of themselves having succumbed to death in a variety of ways - from being impaled on a fence, to falling in a river and getting knocked over on the street.

But not everybody was thrilled by the phenomenon and criticised the trend, describing it as insensitive and offensive.

Some pictures were graphic; one featured a woman in a pool of fake blood next to a large knife and in another a male was lying on the ground foaming at the mouth.

Psychologist for the SA Depression and Anxiety Group Mara Zanella said people did not understand the repercussions behind posting these images online.

"People use humour as a coping mechanism but fail to understand the seriousness behind these images," she said. "You can't control people's voices and what they deem as funny but they need to practise caution and consider others. People make fun of suicide and depression but this often derives from a lack of knowledge," Zanella said.

If anyone was triggered by the images and comments they should try to avoid social media and speak to a family member or friend, she said. If they were unable to do so they could phone Sadag on 0800 41 42 43 or SMS 31393.