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 suicidal acts by people exposed to such stimuli. Recent systematic reviews by others and ourselves (unpublished) have found overwhelming evidence for such effects.¹ Evidence for the influence of media on suicidal behaviour has been shown for newspaper and television reports of actual suicides, film and television portrayals of suicides, and suicide in literature, especially suicide manuals. The potential for "suicide sites" on the internet influencing suicidal behaviour remains to be proved, but anecdotal evidence of 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 specifiedespecially when presented in detailwhen the story is reported or portrayed dramatically and prominentlyfor example with photographs of the deceased or large headlinesand when suicides of celebrities are reported.^4-6 Younger people seem . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Suicide and the internet

Lucy Biddle, Jenny Donovan, Keith Hawton, Navneet Kapur, and David Gunnell
BMJ 2008 336: 800-802. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Media influence on suicide

Andy Howe, Vicci Owen-Smith, Judith Richardson, Rachel Hardyman, Geraldine Leydon, Kathy P M Chan, Dominic T S Lee, Sing Lee, and Paul S F Yip
BMJ 2003 326: 498. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Biddle, L., Donovan, J., Hawton, K., Kapur, N., Gunnell, D. (2008). Suicide and the internet. BMJ 336: 800-802 [Full text]  
• Fu, K.-w., Yip, P. S F (2007). Long-term impact of celebrity suicide on suicidal ideation: results from a population-based study. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 61: 540-546 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Gunnell, D., Lewis, G. (2005). Studying suicide from the life course perspective: implications for prevention. Br. J. Psychiatry 187: 206-208 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Chan, K. P. M., Yip, P. S. F., Au, J., Lee, D. T. S. (2005). Charcoal-burning suicide in post-transition Hong Kong. Br. J. Psychiatry 186: 67-73 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Sandhu, N. S. (2004). Transpectoral Ultrasound-Guided Catheterization of the Axillary Vein: An Alternative to Standard Catheterization of the Subclavian Vein. Anesth. Analg. 99: 183-187 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Howe, A., Owen-Smith, V., Richardson, J., Hardyman, R., Leydon, G., Chan, K. P M, Lee, D. T S, Lee, S., Yip, P. S F (2003). Media influence on suicide. BMJ 326: 498-498 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Suicide and Religion?

Abdul Karim Al-Sheikhli
bmj.com, 14 Dec 2002 [Full text]

Do television programme makers have an ethical responsibility?

Andy Howe, et al.
bmj.com, 15 Dec 2002 [Full text]

The double-edged role of the media in suicide

Kathy PM Chan, et al.
bmj.com, 18 Dec 2002 [Full text]

Media influences on health information seeking behaviour

Rachel A Hardyman, et al.
bmj.com, 6 Feb 2003 [Full text]