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It is no secret to mental health specialists that exposure to suicide, whether directly or through media and entertainment, can make people more likely to resort to to suicidal behavior. The phenomenon even has a name: Suicide Contagion
And a new newspaper, published Monday in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association says some specific journalistic practices – such as including many details about a suicide by suicide "
" We do not say that reports about suicide are bad, "says Dr. Ayal Schaffer, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and co-author of the new version. study. "Our goal is not to blame journalists, it's not to tell reporters how to do their job, but it's about providing a strong enough research base to support guidelines." on how to report suicide. "
To this end, researchers badyzed articles on suicide in 13 publications in Toronto (Most were Canadian but New York Times was also included.) They found nearly 17,000 stories that mentioned suicide, including 6,367 articles in which there was a major publication between 2011 and 2014. Approximately 950 people from Toronto died by suicide during this period
TIME Health Newsletter
They found that stories of celebrity suicides, headlines that included information about how a suicide was completed, and statements that made suicide inevitable were all correlated with the contagion of suicide. (Other research warrants it: in the four months following Robin Williams' suicide death in 2014, a study found a 10% increase in suicides across the United States). Negative descriptions of suicide and messages of hope These effects were consistent with existing media guidelines for reporting on suicide.
The search comes shortly after a series of stories pushed suicide. at the forefront of the news cycle this summer. In June, fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain committed suicide a few days apart. The same week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on the rise in suicide rates across the country. More recently, stories on a study linking climate change and rising temperatures to a potential increase in suicide deaths.
Andrew Seaman, chairman of the ethics committee of the Society of Professional Journalists and former health reporter, says it's way these stories are covered. According to him, the first responsibility of a journalist is to report the facts, but some issues, such as suicide and school shootings, require a more nuanced judgment than others, especially given the supporting research theories such as the contagion of suicide.
Although there is similar research on other public health issues that are not regulated by the journalistic guidelines – the way in which young people's exposure to advertising on the Internet is a priority. alcohol contributes to risky consumption, for example – Seaman says his philosophy Guiding Principles of the SPJ: Minimize Damage
"You really have to think about the story and say," What are my responsibilities here where do they end? "Seaman says." Do I really need to include the method? Do I need to go into details here? In most cases, I do not think you should. "
Schaffer agrees, noting that journalists should normally omit information about how a death has occurred or speculation about the causes." The more the description of death is alive, the more it contributes to the contagion of suicide
"More than one is able, in a very specific way, to connect to this story – and if they can see themselves. in this person or wanting to be that person or to admire that person – this story becomes a very powerful driver of their behavior, "explains Schaffer. The reverse of this theory may explain why including negative details – that a death occurred as part of a murder – suicide, for example – can help deter suicide attempts.
Sinyor, principal investigator of the new study and psychiatrist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, sent an email to TIME. "Ideally, reporters would not treat suicide as an entertainment story, but as what it really is: a health story," says Sinyor. "Suicide results invariably from treatable mental disorders, most people who experience suicidal crises find ways to resilience, and there is no reason to die by suicide."
Schaffer adds that messages of hope "point to states or countries that have improved suicide prevention, for example, or mentioning people who have recovered from suicidal crises – may also help.
" Part of the message of Hope is, at the macro level, the feeling that we can actually do something, because we have to fight against feeling that there is a sense of hopelessness and helplessness badociated with suicide ", said Schaffer. "We know that there are many things we can do to reduce the suicide rate – not to zero, but much less than it is."
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