|
Reporting
on Suicide
Recommendations for the Media
Information from the National Institute for Mental Health
Suicide Contagion is Real
Between 1984 and 1987, journalists
in Vienna covered the deaths of individuals who jumped in
front of trains in the subway system. The coverage was extensive
and dramatic. In 1987, a campaign alerted reporters to the
possible negative effects of such reporting, and suggested
alternate strategies for coverage. In the first six months
after the campaign began, subway suicides and non-fatal
attempts dropped by more than eighty percent. The total
number of suicides in Vienna declined as well.
Research finds
an increase in suicide by readers or viewers when:
- The number
of stories about individual suicides increases
- A particular
death is reported at length or in many stories
- The story
of an individual death by suicide is placed on the front
page or at the beginning of a broadcast
- The headlines
about specific suicide deaths are dramatic
(A recent example: "Boy, 10, Kills Himself Over Poor Grades")
Back
to Topics
Recommendations
The media can play a powerful
role in educating the public about suicide prevention. Stories
about suicide can inform readers and viewers about the likely
causes of suicide, its warning signs, trends in suicide
rates, and recent treatment advances. They can also highlight
opportunities to prevent suicide. Media stories about individual
deaths by suicide may be newsworthy and need to be covered,
but they also have the potential to do harm. Implementation
of recommendations for media coverage of suicide has been
shown to decrease suicide rates.1,2
- Certain ways of describing
suicide in the news contribute to what behavioral scientists
call "suicide contagion" or "copycat" suicides.7,9
- Research suggests that inadvertently
romanticizing suicide or idealizing those who take their
own lives by portraying suicide as a heroic or romantic
act may encourage others to identify with the victim.
6
- Exposure to suicide method
through media reports can encourage vulnerable individuals
to imitate it.10 Clinicians believe
the danger is even greater if there is a detailed description
of the method. Research indicates that detailed descriptions
or pictures of the location or site of a suicide encourage
imitation. 1
- Presenting suicide as the
inexplicable act of an otherwise healthy or high-achieving
person may encourage identification with the victim. 6
Back
to Topics
Suicide
and Mental Illness
Did you
know?
- Over 90 percent of suicide
victims have a significant psychiatric illness at the
time of their death. These are often undiagnosed, untreated,
or both. Mood disorders and substance abuse are the two
most common. 11-15
- When both mood disorders
and substance abuse are present, the risk for suicide
is much greater, particularly for adolescents and young
adults. 14,15
- Research has shown that
when open aggression, anxiety or agitation is present
in individuals who are depressed, the risk for suicide
increases significantly. 16-18
The cause of an individual
suicide is invariably more complicated than a recent painful
event such as the break-up of a relationship or the loss
of a job. An individual suicide cannot be adequately explained
as the understandable response to an individualıs stressful
occupation, or an individualıs membership in a group encountering
discrimination. Social conditions alone do not explain a
suicide.19-20 People who appear to
become suicidal in response to such events, or in response
to a physical illness, generally have significant underlying
mental problems, though they may be well-hidden.12
Questions
to ask:
- Had the victim ever received
treatment for depression or any other mental disorder?
- Did the victim have a problem
with substance abuse?
Angles to
pursue:
- Conveying that effective
treatments for most of these conditions are available
(but under-utilized) may encourage those with such problems
to seek help.
- Acknowledging the deceased
personıs problems and struggles as well as the positive
aspects of his/her life or character contributes to a
more balanced picture.
Back
to Topics
Interviewing
Surviving Relatives and Friends
Research shows that, during
the period immediately after a death by suicide, grieving
family members or friends have difficulty understanding
what happened. Responses may be extreme, problems may be
minimized, and motives may be complicated. 21
Studies of suicide based on in-depth interviews with those
close to the victim indicate that, in their first, shocked
reaction, friends and family members may find a loved oneıs
death by suicide inexplicable or they may deny that there
were warning signs. 22,23 Accounts
based on these initial reactions are often unreliable.
Angles to
Pursue:
- Thorough investigation generally
reveals underlying problems unrecognized even by close
friends and family members. Most victims do however give
warning signs of their risk for suicide (see Resources).
- Some informants are inclined
to suggest that a particular individual, for instance
a family member, a school, or a health service provider,
in some way played a role in the victimıs death by suicide.
Thorough investigation almost always finds multiple causes
for suicide and fails to corroborate a simple attribution
of responsibility.
Concerns:
- Dramatizing the impact of
suicide through descriptions and pictures of grieving
relatives, teachers or classmates or community expressions
of grief may encourage potential victims to see suicide
as a way of getting attention or as a form of retaliation
against others.
- Using adolescents on TV
or in print media to tell the stories of their suicide
attempts may be harmful to the adolescents themselves
or may encourage other vulnerable young people to seek
attention in this way.
Back
to Topics
Language
Referring to a "rise" in suicide
rates is usually more accurate than calling such a rise
an "epidemic," which implies a more dramatic and sudden
increase than what we generally find in suicide rates. Research
has shown that the use in headlines of the word "suicide"
or referring to the cause of death as "self-inflicted" increases
the likelihood of contagion.3
Recommendations
for language:
- Whenever possible, it is
preferable to avoid referring to suicide in the headline.
Unless the suicide death took place in public, the cause
of death should be reported in the body of the story and
not in the headline.
- In deaths that will be covered
nationally, such as of celebrities, or those apt to be
covered locally, such as persons living in small towns,
consider phrasing for headlines such as: "Marilyn Monroe
dead at 36," or "John Smith dead at 48." Consideration
of how they died could be reported in the body of the
article.
- In the body of the story,
it is preferable to describe the deceased as "having died
by suicide," rather than as "a suicide," or having "committed
suicide." The latter two expressions reduce the person
to the mode of death, or connote criminal or sinful behavior.
- Contrasting "suicide deaths"
with "non-fatal attempts" is preferable to using terms
such as "successful," "unsuccessful" or "failed."
Back
to Topics
Special
Situations
Celebrity
Deaths
Celebrity deaths by suicide
are more likely than non-celebrity deaths to produce imitation.
24 Although suicides by celebrities
will receive prominent coverage, it is important not to
let the glamour of the individual obscure any mental health
problems or use of drugs.
Homicide-Suicides
In covering murder-suicides
be aware that the tragedy of the homicide can mask the suicidal
aspect of the act. Feelings of depression and hopelessness
present before the homicide and suicide are often the impetus
for both. 25,26
Suicide
Pacts
Suicide pacts are mutual arrangements
between two people who kill themselves at the same time,
and are rare. They are not simply the act of loving individuals
who do not wish to be separated. Research shows that most
pacts involve an individual who is coercive and another
who is extremely dependent. 27
Back
to Topics
Stories
to Consider Covering
- Trends in suicide rates
- Recent treatment advances
- Individual stories of how
treatment was life-saving
- Stories of people who overcame
despair without attempting suicide
- Myths about suicide
- Warning signs of suicide
- Actions that individuals
can take to prevent suicide by others
Back
to Topics
Links
Reporting
on Suicide - Recommendations to the media
National
Strategy for Suicide Prevention
National
Institute of Mental Health - Reporting on Suicide: Recommendations
Back
to Topics
References
1. Sonneck, G., Etzersdorfer,
E., & Nagel-Kuess, S. (1994). Imitative suicide on the Viennese
subway. Social Science and Medicine, 38, 453-457. 2. Etzersdorfer,
E., & Sonneck, G. (1998). Preventing suicide by influencing
mass-media reporting. The Viennese experience 1980-1996.
Archives of Suicide Research, 4, 67-74. 3. Phillips, D.P.,
Lesyna, K., & Paight, D.J. (1992). Suicide and the media.
In R.W. Maris, A.L. Berman, J.T. Maltsberger et al. (Eds.),
Assessment and prediction of suicide (pp. 499-519). New
York: The Guilford Press. 4. Hassan, R. (1995). Effects
of newspaper stories on the incidence of suicide in Australia:
A research note. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry,
29, 480-483. 5. Stack, S. (1991). Social correlates of suicide
by age: Media impacts. In A. Leenaars (Ed.), Life span perspectives
of suicide: Timelines in the suicide process (pp. 187-213).
New York: Plenum Press. 6. Fekete, S., & A. Schmidtke. (1995)
The impact of mass media reports on suicide and attitudes
toward self-destruction: Previous studies and some new data
from Hungary and Germany. In B. L. Mishara (Ed.), The impact
of suicide (pp. 142-155). New York: Springer. 7. Schmidtke,
A., & Häfner, H. (1988). The Werther effect after television
films: New evidence for an old hypothesis. Psychological
Medicine 18, 665-676. 8. Gould, M.S., & Davidson, L. (1988).
Suicide contagion among adolescents. In A.R. Stiffman, &
R.A. Feldman (Eds.), Advances in adolescent mental health
(pp. 29-59). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. 9. Gould, M.S. (2001).
Suicide and the media. In H. Hendin, & J.J. Mann (Eds.),
The clinical science of suicide prevention (pp. 200-224).
New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 10.
Fekete, S., & Macsai, E. (1990). Hungarian suicide models,
past and present. In G. Ferrari (Ed.), Suicidal behavior
and risk factors (pp. 149- 156). Bologna: Monduzzi Editore.
11. Robins, E. (1981). The final months: A study of the
lives of 134 persons. NY: Oxford University Press. 12. Barraclough,
B., & Hughes, J. (1987). Suicide: Clinical and epidemiological
studies. London: Croom Helm. 13. Conwell Y., Duberstein
P. R., Cox C., Herrmann J.H., Forbes N. T., & Caine E. D.
(1996). Relationships of age and axis I diagnoses in victims
of completed suicide: a psychological autopsy study. American
Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 1001-1008. 14. Brent, D.A.,
Perper, J.A., Moritz, G., Allman, C., Friend, A., Roth,
C., Schweers, J., Balach, L., & Baugher, M. (1993). Psychiatric
risk factors for adolescent suicide: a case-control study.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 32 (3), 521-529. 15. Shaffer, D., Gould, M.S.,
Fisher, P., Trautman, P., Moreau, D., Kleinman, M., & Flory,
M. (1996). Psychiatric diagnosis in child and adolescent
suicide. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53 (4), 339-348
16. Mann, J.J., Waternaux, C., Haas, G.L., & Malone, K.M.
(1999). Toward a clinical model of suicidal behavior in
psychiatric patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156
(2), 181-189. 17. Soloff, P.H., Lynch, K.G., Kelly, T.M.,
Malone, K.M., & Mann, J.J. (2000). Characteristics of suicide
attempts of patients with major depressive episode and borderline
personality disorder: a comparative study. American Journal
of Psychiatry, 157 (4), 601-608. 18. Fawcett, J. (1990).Targeting
treatment in patients with mixed symptoms of anxiety and
depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 51 (Suppl.),
40-43. 19. Gould, M.S., Fisher, P., Parides, M., Flory,
M., & Shaffer, D. (1996). Psychosocial risk factors of child
and adolescent completed suicide. Archives of General Psychiatry,
53, 1155-1162. 20. Moscicki, E.K. (1999). Epidemiology of
suicide. In D.G. Jacobs (Ed.), The Harvard Medical School
Guide to suicide assessment and intervention (pp. 40-51).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 21. Ness, D.E., & Pfeffer, C.R.
(1990). Sequelae of bereavement resulting from suicide.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 279-285. 22. Barraclough,
B., Bunch, J., Nelson, B., & Sainsbury, P. (1974). A hundred
cases of suicide: clinical aspects. British Journal of Psychiatry,
125, 355-373. 23. Brent, D.A., Perper, J.A., Kolko, D.J.,
& Zelenak, J.P. (1988). The psychological autopsy: methodological
considerations for the study of adolescent suicide. Journal
of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
27 (3), 362-366. 24. Wasserman, I. M. (1984). Imitation
and suicide: A re-examination of the Werther effect. American
Sociological Review, 49, 427-436. 25. Rosenbaum, M. (1990).
The role of depression in couples involved in murder-suicide
and homicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 47 (8), 1036-1039.
26. Nock, M.K., & Marzuk, P.M. (1999). Murder-suicide: Phenomenology
and clinical implications. In D.G. Jacobs (Ed.) The Harvard
Medical School guide to suicide assessment and intervention
(pp. 188-209). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 27. Fishbain,
D.A., D'Achille, L., Barsky, S., & Aldrich, T.E. (1984).
A controlled study of suicide pacts. Journal of Clinical
Psychiatry, 45, 154-157.
These recommendations were
produced in the spirit of the public-private partnership
recommended by the Surgeon Generalıs National Strategy for
Suicide Prevention. We would like to thank the many journalists
and news editors who assisted us in this project. The Annenberg
Public Policy Centerıs involvement was funded by The Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation.
Back
to Topics
|
