Influences of the media on suicide

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7377.1374

BMJ 2002;325:1374-1375 ( 14 December )

Editorials

Influences of the media on suicide

Researchers, policy makers, and media personnel need to collaborate on guidelines

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Reporting and portrayal of suicidal behaviour in the media may have potentially negative influences and facilitate suicidalacts by people exposed to such stimuli. Recent systematic reviewsby others and ourselves (unpublished) have found overwhelmingevidence for such effects.¹ Evidence for the influence of mediaon suicidal behaviour has been shown for newspaper and televisionreports of actual suicides, film and television portrayals ofsuicides, and suicide in literature, especially suicide manuals.The potential for "suicide sites" on the internet influencingsuicidal behaviour remains to be proved, but anecdotal evidenceof negative influences is accumulating. ² ³

The impact of the media on suicidal behaviour seems to be most likely when a method of suicide is specified $---$ especially whenpresented in detail $---$ when the story is reported or portrayed dramaticallyand prominently $---$ for example with photographs of the deceased orlarge headlines $---$ and when suicides of celebrities are reported.^4-6Younger people seem . . . [Full text of this article]

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