The number of suicides among young Americans increases by 29% after Netflix's launch of "13 Reason Why"



[ad_1]

  FILE PHOTO: MTV Movie and TV Awards 2017 - Show
FILE PHOTO: MTV Movie and TV Awards 2017 – Show – Los Angeles, US, 05/07/2017 – The cast of "13 Reasons Why" presents the show of the year. REUTERS / Mario Anzuoni / Photo File

April 29, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The number of suicides among young Americans has risen by nearly a third in the month following the broadcast in 2017 of the popular Netflix television series "13 Reasons" »An American study showed Monday that

The TV show was badociated with a 28.9% increase in the suicide rate among American youth aged 10 to 17 years in April 2017, the National Institutes of Health According to a health-funded study (NIH)

suicide rates of 10 to 17 years were higher in the months that followed the start, an additional 195 deaths by suicide, from April to December 2017, compared to expectations based on past data.

The researchers acknowledged that the study had limitations and that they could not establish a direct "causal link" between "13 reasons" and the increase in the suicide rate, nor exclude other factors.

The series tells the story of a teenager who leaves behind a series of 13 tapes describing why she decided to commit suicide. The last episode of the first season showed that she was cutting her wrists in a bathtub.

The graphic scene provoked a violent reaction among parents and health professionals, prompting Netflix in 2017 to post new warning cards for viewers and direct viewers to support groups. 19659004] A second season of "13 Reasons Why" was published in May 2018 and a third season was commissioned by Netflix.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Monday's study, but the general manager, Reed Hastings, defended the third. renewal of the season at a shareholders' meeting in June 2018.

"The" 13 Reasons Why "have been extremely popular and successful. It is an attractive content. It's controversial. But no one has to look at it, "said Hastings.

Researchers, who worked in several universities, hospitals and at the National Institute of Mental Health, said their findings" should remind us to take into account account for the possible unintended effects of the depiction of suicide, and as a call to the entertainment industry and the media to use best practices to address this topic. "

(Report by Jill Serjeant and Lisa Richwine, edited by Tom Brown)

[ad_2]
Source link