BMJ  2008;336:800-802 (12 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39525.442674.AD

Feature

Public Health

Suicide and the internet

¹ Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR, ² Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, ³ Centre for Suicide Prevention, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL

Recentreports of suicide by young people have highlighted the possible influence of internet sites. Lucy Biddle and colleagues investigate what a web search is likely to find

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

Media reporting of suicide and its fictional portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behaviour, particularly the choice of method used.^{1 2 3} Indeed, epidemics of suicides using particular methods have occurred after media portrayal of their use.^{3 4 5} As some methods of suicide are more likely to cause death than others,⁶ such influences may affect the outcome of suicide attempts and national suicide rates.⁷

The influence of the internet on suicidal behaviour is less well understood, although it is an increasingly popular source of information, especially for people confronting embarrassing issues such as mental illness, and concerns have been raised about the existence of sites that promote suicide.^{8 9} Some people report being encouraged to use suicide as a problem solving strategy by suicide web forums⁸ and cases of cybersuicide—attempted or completed suicide influenced by the internet—have been published in the popular and academic press.^{9 10 11 12} Suicide sites are also claimed to have . . . [Full text of this article]

Data retrieval and analysis

Search strategy
Analysis

What searches find

Other influences

Controlling access

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Bridge, J. A., Greenhouse, J. B., Weldon, A. H., Campo, J. V., Kelleher, K. J. (2008). Suicide Trends Among Youths Aged 10 to 19 Years in the United States, 1996-2005. JAMA 300: 1025-1026 [Full text]  
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