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US Suicides Spiked 10 Percent After Robin Williams's Death, Study Finds (bbc.com)
dryriver shares a report from the BBC: U.S. suicide rates spiked in the months after Robin Williams killed himself in 2014, according to researchers. In the five months after the actor's death there were 10% more suicides than might be expected, or 1,841 extra cases, PLOS One journal reports. The potential risk of copycat incidents after celebrity cases is known to public health bodies. It cannot be known for certain if his death led to the spike but it appeared to be connected, the new study said. Experts say "irresponsible" media coverage of suicides can play a big part in copycat cases. At the time of his death, the Samaritans warned about a large number of news articles giving too much detail about the nature of his suicide, against media guidelines. Guidance from the World Health Organization, the Independent Press Standards Organization's editors' code of practice, the Ofcom broadcasting code and the BBC's editorial guidelines all advise against going into explicit detail about the methods used. However, researchers said there was "substantial evidence" that many media outlets had tended to deviate from these guidelines.
For the latest study, they looked at the monthly suicide rates from the U.S. government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between January 1999 and December 2015 to see if there had been a spike. They found there were 18,690 suicides between August and December 2014 compared with the 16,849 cases they would have expected. In the weeks after Williams's death, there was a "drastic" increase in references to suicide and death in news media reports, as well as more posts on an internet suicide forum researchers monitored, the study found. David Fink, one of the study's authors, from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said research had previously shown that suicide rates increased following a high-profile celebrity suicide, but this was a first time such a study had been done within the era of the 24-hour news cycle. Lorna Fraser, from the Samaritans' media advisory service, said: "This study builds on a strong body of research evidence that shows that irresponsible or overly detailed depictions of suicide can have a devastating impact. In the case of celebrities, the potential for someone at risk to make an emotional connection and over-identify with them is greater, in some cases even to interpret their death as affirmation that they could take their own life."
For the latest study, they looked at the monthly suicide rates from the U.S. government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between January 1999 and December 2015 to see if there had been a spike. They found there were 18,690 suicides between August and December 2014 compared with the 16,849 cases they would have expected. In the weeks after Williams's death, there was a "drastic" increase in references to suicide and death in news media reports, as well as more posts on an internet suicide forum researchers monitored, the study found. David Fink, one of the study's authors, from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said research had previously shown that suicide rates increased following a high-profile celebrity suicide, but this was a first time such a study had been done within the era of the 24-hour news cycle. Lorna Fraser, from the Samaritans' media advisory service, said: "This study builds on a strong body of research evidence that shows that irresponsible or overly detailed depictions of suicide can have a devastating impact. In the case of celebrities, the potential for someone at risk to make an emotional connection and over-identify with them is greater, in some cases even to interpret their death as affirmation that they could take their own life."
As someone who used to battle suicidal thoughts for years let me offer some perspective.
For a long time there was a single thought that would go through my mind - almost constantly, even when I wasn't really *feeling* depressed. The thought was of stabbing myself in the chest or stomach with a large kitchen knife or cutting myself in a way which would kill me.
The reason I am putting an * around the word feeling is because I wasn't always self-aware of my deeply depressed state.. Actually, there were times I would even feel euphoric but yet that thought of inflicting such injuries upon myself would constantly go through my mind. By constantly, I mean every few minutes (if not every few seconds).
The thought was that this act would release me - that it would give me a sense of relief. I am not surprised that some people give in to this senseless feeling.
For myself, I escaped because I turned to religion. Those thoughts don't cross my mind anymore and haven't anymore. I recognise now that there are forces out there which don't want me alive and that there is also a benevolent personality out there (God) who wants me to live and thrive.
I realise that this thought may be scorned or mocked on this site and others. But for me it saved my life.
You're seriously positing that Robin Williams committed suicide because he was unable to afford healthcare?
The long-term suicide rate in the U.S. has been fairly consistent, while much of the EU's was nearly twice as high in comparison, until it came down in the last three decades. So if there's any correlation to nationalized healthcare, it's negative. There are lots of good arguments for nationalized healthcare, but this isn't one of them.