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."

Comments

Population levels and social media

[pablo_max]

I would be curious to know if there is any correlation between an increase in population density and the number of suicides. Also interesting would be suicide rates pre and post social media days.
Thinking about it a knew / know a surprising number of people who have taken that road or attempted to take that road. Most "seemed" normal enough.

It is hard to imagine how people get to the state of overriding their self-preservation instincts.

Re:Population levels and social media

[AmiMoJo]

It is hard to imagine how people get to the state of overriding their self-preservation instincts.

One of the effects of depression is that you start to think negatively about everything, and react negatively to everything. Even when good things happen, your brain automatically sees them in a negative light.

For example, if someone is kind to you, shows some concern, normally you might be happy about that. But when you have depression your mind looks for ways to feel bad about it... Maybe they don't really care, or maybe you feel frustration that you can't tell them how you really feel because it might upset them, or maybe you feel lonely because if they are happy and kind they must not understand you. Your whole world is seen through this lens.

After some time it starts to seem like there is no way back, no way to end the suffering other than death. It starts to look attractive even, a way out and a way to end the pain. After all, animals with serious illnesses or injuries are usually put down so that they don't suffer, and in some countries humans have that right too.

To anyone feeling that way, please know that there is a way back. You can recover and feel okay again. You just need to seek help, and know that there are people out there who understand and genuinely care.

Re:Population levels and social media

[Kiuas]

You have to realize that the fight or flight instinct isn't about surviving, it's about avoiding pain and suffering.

Excellent point. Now, when you think about it, barring religious dogmatic opposition to suicide, most people are alright with suicide in certain scenarios, meaning euthanasia. I mean, if you think of someone in a terminal condition who's in terrible pain and is dying either way, it's hard to really say to this person that he/she must suffer til the end if they want to go and we have the means of making it painless for them. Most people would rather choose that I wager than lingering at the end of tubes for the final weeks or months of their lives.

The problem arises when we start talking about mental states wherein the pain the person experiences is inside their mind. Looking at a physically healthy human being who wants to kill themselves because the pain inside their head is too large we're left confused. The medical profession approaches this from the point of view of a neurochemical disorder and maintains that it's just a glitch that can be treated, and most often it can. But the real question is, what about the cases wherein it can't? I mean there are bound to be cases in which an individual is so chronically and deeply depressed for example that despite medication or therapy they don't feel their life is worth continuing. We then bump into a sort of paradox: when thinking about whether or not it should be acceptable to let these people choose suicide just as in the case with terminal patients with physical pain, we're confronted by the notion that if they're depressed they're not thinking rationally (even though avoidance of suffering that one sees no end to is rational) and therefore we cannot let them choose death. They must be kept alive until they realize that their life is worth living, and if they do not realize that we must keep them locked up so as to make sure they don't kill themselves even if this inflicts pain upon them. Now, this approach is understandable from the point of view of doctors because the doctors are committed to trying to cure patients, so it seems to go against the ethics of a healer to give up and say: 'alright then, you can do as you please because we can't seem to help you'. That would be seen as immoral in cases wherein the pain originates in the mind, even though it's seen as the moral thing to do when we know the pain is of a physical origin.

But I think this attitude also creates a trap: people with suicidal thoughts or severe depression know that if they go and seek help they might end up putting themselves in a situation in which they remove the option of suicide from themselves while not removing the suffering. This raises the bar for going to get help because the more serious your condition, the more likely it is that you will be locked up for your own protection. Thus, getting help for such people may seem as a gamble, wherein you either get better, or extend your agony for an indefinite amount of time. This I think is why so many people who commit suicide never seek professional help or tell about their intentions to anyone.

I know it may seem counter-intuitive, but I feel if the medical field stopped treating assisted suicide as an non-option for all except people in terminal physical conditions we'd see an increase in the amount of people seeking help, and thus likely a reduction in the amount of suicides.

Wrong Conculstions

[Anonymous Coward]

I've attempted suicide and failed at it. The more coverage suicide gets, the more people come out saying it's only for cowards. Only lazy people do it. The people are selfish. Etc... The perceived attacks against oneself are enough to drive you to suicide. Not only do you already have the poorest self image, everyone else is saying you're even worse. There's nothing lazy about being suicidal depressed. Sometimes you literal have no energy to do anything, Just tossing a meal in the microwave can feels like trying to walk to the moon. You just can't do it.

Being selfish? FUCK YOU. The person is currently living in hell and those around him/her can't even bother to notice. Why should I live in unending torment just so you don't have the inconvenience of maybe attending a funeral? You're the selfish brat. Plus some of us feel the world would be a better place without us so we're actually making your life better by dying. That's not selfish either. You go kill yourself to reduce your carbon footprint.

Me a coward? I bet you can't even fake trying to killing yourself. Hold some scissors and hang yourself for one minute or just slash a light cut all the way down your arm. Go head, do it. You won't die doing those things but you won't be able to bring yourself to do them. If a lazy coward can do that and more, what kind of low life scum are you? Your suicidal coward has more bravery than you.

Of course the suicidal person is dead so everyone blames the victim so they can feel better. I understand that. But doing so causes more suicides and makes us depressed people hide due to social fear. Anyone who successfully commits suicide on purpose deserves your respect. It's a hard thing to do, especially considering doing anything while depressed is already difficult. People 'suddenly' kill themselves because bringing the topic up means everyone around you attacks you whether they realize it or not. Best to stay silent and hidden. Then you may have a chance without everyone you know being directly against you. How many times have you blamed someone who committed suicide? If anyone around you is depressed they know to hide it from you and anyone who talks with you. We've got enough grief to deal with already.

Re:So it's the media's fault?

[Opportunist]

Hmm... let's see, what do we have on TV? Horror stories about war and strife, domestic and abroad, in the news. Various lowlifes yelling at each other in afternoon talkshows. "Celebrities" that have bigger boobs than brains, and whose only reason for their celebrity status is those built-in airbags and the airheads on top of them. Shows where we worship people for being able to pull off weird stunts or entertain us in some other way. And sitcoms that celebrate idiocy, a hedonistic lifestyle and unemployment, with what used to be called "successful people" being the butt of the jokes.

Maybe it is the media's fault?

Re:Even a free and open society has taboos

[nospam007]

"I want to know how and why people commit suicide."

Charcoal grills in small enclosed spaces seems to be the new fad where I live. People lock themselves in the bathroom, duct-tape window and door, put the grill in the bathtub and lay down beside with a bottle of whisky and barbiturates or other knockout stuff.
According to my doctor, it's the simplest painless way to go.

PS. Euthanasia is legal in our country. But I guess people just want to avoid the red tape.

Re: The challenge of interpreting signs

[kenh]

Suicide hotlines are free and plentiful.

Walking into a hospital saying you want to kill yourself will likely result in medical attention regardless of cost.

If you live in America, you either have so-called Obamacare, Medicare, or private insurance - all three of which provide for free/low co-pay psychiatric care.

But yes, if you want to schedule an hour of story-time each week with a psychiatrist in a downtown office building and explore your parents feelings toward you, yes, it can get expensive.