Blog Layout

The Media and Suicide by Contagion

Dan Thorne • Mar 21, 2022

Suicide by contagion is one component of understanding suicide prevention. The Centers for Disease Control define contagion suicide as “a process by which exposure to the suicide or suicidal behavior of one or more persons influences others to commit or attempt suicide.” The concept is especially important for adolescents, who by nature are more pliable to suggestions from others. Along with the concept of contagion, suicide is “cluster suicide” which specifies that a cluster has occurred when attempts and/or deaths occur at a higher number than would normally be expected for a specific population in a specific area. 


Along with the concern, parents have already about their teens is that suicide by contagion is also influenced by the media. Dr. Gould in her article presented studies that showed how exposure to media information about suicides led to a higher probability of an adolescent attempting suicide. Dr. Gould offered information that the reduction of information about suicide to adolescents may also reduce the likelihood of their attempts.

This information was brought to light in the media in 2017 with the release of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. The article alone in Wikipedia about the show cited here has with it numerous studies conducted about suicide by contagion and the possible negative influences of the show. 13 Reasons Why was about an adolescent female who kills herself; she had mailed cassette tapes before her event to a classmate outlining her reasons for her actions. The show was successful but not without controversy. 


On one hand, Dr. Jeffrey Bridge concluded that the viewing of the first season of the show resulted in a higher amount of suicides than before the show aired. However, Dr. Christopher Ferguson indicated in his study that no link exists between fictional media and suicide attempts or deaths. And Marco Scalvini indicated, “Fictional portrayals of suicide might empower vulnerable people in terms of normalizing mental health issues, preventing suicidal ideation or encouraging help-seeking. It has been suggested that appropriate portrayals such as those emphasizing negative consequences or alternative courses of action, could actually have a protective, or educative effect.” So the concept of suicide by contagion influenced by the media has both proponents and opponents.


What do behavioral health professionals do to reduce a youth’s risk of suicide? Adolescents will always have access to information about suicide, whether it is social media, television shows, or the news. Pretending it doesn’t exist does not help the professional, the parent, or the teen. But when a youth has a higher probability for suicide, preventive and reactive measures, such as a crisis and safety plans should be implemented. Discussions with the youth when a friend or someone they know attempts suicide should be done mindfully to help the youth distinguish between their emotional pain vs. someone else’s. Support, psychotropic medications, treatment such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy help to bring the youth into the present to deal with their thoughts and feelings, to avoid suicide by contagion.

 

Praxes provides training on behavioral health topics including a 6-hour course on suicide prevention for licensed CEUs. For more information, please contact us.  

 


You might also like

Effective and Efficient School-Based Mental Health

Boys teasing and bullying another child.
By Dan Thorne 10 Nov, 2023
To conduct bullying prevention activities, the onus for schools and professionals is to identify the source of the bullying.
Grant writing review by an organization.
By Dan Thorne 10 Nov, 2023
With the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, many organizations are exploring behavioral health grants.
A woman using Motivational Interviewing deciding on pros or cons
By Dan Thorne 14 Jul, 2023
The Pros and Cons exercise also provides the practitioner and client with extra insight into the driving forces behind the client’s need to continue their behavior.
More Posts

Book a Service Today

Share by: