"Not to sound insensitive, but how does someone get so affected by comments in a forum that they have serious mental breakdowns?" I don't know the individual in question, but I would surmise that kind of thing happens because there are a lot of lonely people in the world who depend on virtual relationships more than others do, for whatever reason. An internet forum full of faceless nicknames may mean little to some folks, but it can easily mean a lot to someone else.