Impact of Mass-media information on suicidal behavior of adolescents and youths (review of foreign sources)

The article reviews a number of foreign sources disclosing the influence of information in public media about suicides on population in general and on young people in particular. It discusses the possibility of imitative suicides after publications in press (syndrome of Werther) and the increase of suicides after TV special reports. The reviewed articles analyze the data obtained in Internet survey of the visitors of prosuicidal web-sites. Alongside with other findings in foreign sources they register the impact of mass-media reports about suicides on young people subjected to external influences. The World Health Organization recommends a more balanced approach to news coverage of suicidal accidents by mass-media.

1. Preventing suicide: A resource for media professionals / World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO, 2000.
2. The media and children’s rights / Edit. Mike Jempson, Denise Searle. Geneva, 2005.
3. Ashton J.R., Donnan S. Suicide by burning as an epidemic phenomenon: An analysis of 82 deaths and inquests in England and Wales in 1978–9 // Psychological Medicine. 1981. Vol. 11, № 4. P. 735–739.
4. Baker D., Fortune S. Understanding Self-Harm and Suicide Websites A Qualitative Interview Study of Young Adult Website Users // Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2008. Vol. 29, № 3. P. 118–122.
5. Becker K., Schmidt M.H. Internet chat rooms and suicide // Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2004, 43, 246–247.
6. Daigle M. Reaching suicidal people with media campaigns. new challenges for a new century / M. Daigle, L. Beausoleil, J. Brisoux, S. Raymond, L. Charbonneau, J. Desaulniers // Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2006. Vol. 27, № 4. P. 172–180.
7. Hawton K. Media Influences on Suicidal Behavior in Young People // Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 1995. Vol. 16, № 3. P. 100–101.
8. Hawton К. Effects of a drug overdose in a television drama on presentations to hospital for self-poisoning: time series and questionnaire study / K. Hawton, S. Simkin, J.J. Deeks, S. O'Connor, A. Keen, D.G. Altman, G. Philo, C. Bulstrode // British medical journal. 1999. Vol. 318. P. 972–977.
9. Mehlum L. The internet, suicide, and suicide prevention / Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2000. Vol. 21, № 4. P. 186–188.
10. Philips D.P., Lesnya K., Paight D.J. Suicide and media // Assessment and prediction of suicide / Eds. R.W. Maris, A.L. Berman, J.T. Maltsberger. New York: Guilford, 1992. P. 499–519.
11. Platt S. The aftermath of Angie’s overdose. Is soap (opera) damaging to your health? // British Medical Journal. 1987. Vol. 294. P. 954–957.
12. Ruder T.D. Suicide Announcement on Facebook / T.D. Ruder, M. Hatch, G. Ampanozi, M.J. Thali, N. Fischer // Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2011. Vol. 32, № 5. P. 280–282.
13. Schmidtke A., Hafner H. The Werther effect after television films: New evidence for an old hypothesis // Psychological Medicine. 1988. Vol. 18, № 3. P. 665–676.
14. Thompson S. The internet and its potential influence on suicide // Psychiatric Bulletin. 1999. Vol. 23, № 8. P. 449–451.