"A 20-year-old man accidently shot himself to death at his apartment while imitating the suicide of Kurt Cobain"...As his friends watched early Monday, the man propped a 12-gauge shotgun on the floor and knelt with his mouth over the barrel, Sgt. Jim Hanson said.

'He wasn't intending to hurt himself,' Sergeant Hanson said. "He put the gun up to his head and said, "Look, I'm just like Kurt Cobain," and the gun went off.'
Associated Press, December 6, 1994.

Experts were worried that the death of Kurt Cobain would lead others to commit suicide (my note:but they didn't expect people to be this stupid). It was not an unreasonable concern. The most famous example occurred in the eighteenth century after the publication of Goethe's "The Sorrows Of Young Werther" in which the protagonist kills himself. Soon the police were finding copies of the book next to suicides. The copycat phenomenon is now called the Werther Effect.

Researchers have found interesting evidence to support the Werther Effect. After Marilyn Monroe's death, the suicide rate jumped 12 percent.

A study of thirty-three well-publicized suicides found the suicide rate increased after twenty-six of them. The more publicly the suicide received, the greater the increase in the rate.

In addition to the increase in the suicide rate, researchers have found an increase in automobile and airplane crash fatalities after well-publicised suicides. This is probably not a coincidence. Many people try to disguise their suicide as accidents. One researcher estimates that up to 25 percent of all single car crashes are deliberate.

"I wish, Charlotte, to be buried in the dress I wear at present: it has been rendered sacred by your touch...My spirit soars above my coffin. I do not wish my pockets to be searched. The knot of pink ribbon which you wore on your bosom the first time that I saw you, surrounded by the children--Oh kiss them a thousand times for me, and tell them the fate of their unhappy friend! The dear children! How warmly have I been attached to you, Charlotte! Since the first hour I saw you, how impossible I found it to leave you! The ribbon must be buried with me: it was a present from you on my birthday. How confused it all appears! Little did I then think that I should journey this road! But peace! I pray you, peace!

"They [the pistols] are loaded-the clock strikes twelve. I say amen. Charlotte, Charlotte! farewell, farewell!

This is an excerpt from the fictional suicide note in Goethe's "The Sorrow of Young Werther." ... Compared to the emotional distance of a genuine note, this note seems obviously fictional. So why did it inspire so many suicides? A. Alvarez believes it was a function of the Romantic period where life and art became inseparable. "At the high point of Romanticism," Alvarez wrote, "life itself was as though it were fictional, and suicide became a literary act."

Taken from "Or Not To Be: A Collection Of Suicide Notes" by Marc Etkind.

The tendency for suicide to incite imitation, especially if the death is highly publicized or romanticisized, is persistent, In September, 1774, Goethe published The Sufferings of Young Werther, a book that portrayed a young man who shot himself over the love of a young woman. It became a best seller, as well as the impetus for a spate of suicides: young men were found dead by gunshot, dressed in blue frock coats and yellow waistcoats, with a copy of Goethe's novel nearby. In an attempt to stop the epidemic of suicides, the book was banned in Italy, Germany and Denmark. In 1974, sociologist David Phillips coined the phrase Werther effect to describe the phenomena of suicide contagion.

Kay Redfield Jamison

Suicide contagion, or the increase in suicides after a prominent or highly publisized suicide, have been reported throughout history and around the world. There is evidence of suicide clusters in Canada, Japan and England and there was a 12% increase in the rate of suicides by overdoses in the months following the death of Marilyn Monroe. Nearly 1000 people lept into the volcanic depths of Mount Mihara, in the three years after Meiko Ukei did so in the hopes of being lifted heavenward in a billow of smoke.

A contagion, a type of epidemic, must be stopped. But how?

In 600 BCE, a the king of Rome ended a spate of suicides amongst his soldiers by declaring that bodies of all suicides be nailed to a cross and put on public display. In similar response to an epidemic of suicides among young Greek woman in the 4th century BCE, a local magistrate ordered that the body of any woman found dead by hanging be dragged naked through the streets. Similar laws were passed centuries later in Marseilles and even Napoleon was forced to issue orders to curb suicides amongst his men.

We live in a day and age where such measures would not be tolerated. Suicide prevention groups and public health agencies, instead focus on the influential role of the media, since it is thought (and indeed, proven) to play a critical role. In both Austria and Hungary, where media groups consulted with suicide experts and took greater care with the reporting of suicides, the rates of suicide clusters have decreased. There is certainly a need to exercise greater judgement in the reporting of deaths by suicide, espcially of famous and highly influential persons.
Adolescents often imagine that the attention or retaliation denied to them in life may come their way through death or that suicide is more acceptable by its having been carried out by others more famous or accomplished

Kay Redfield Jamison

In 1994, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the following recommendations for the media. The idea is not to censor the media or ban completely the reporting of suicides, but rather it is a set of guidelines encouraging more responsible reporting. Since there is scientific evidence linking news coverage of suicides and suicide contagion, the media and public officials must be aware and sensitive in their coverage of these events.

Presenting simplistic explanations for suicide

Suicide is never the result of a single factor or event, but rather results from a complex interacation of many factors and usually involves a history of psychosocial problems. Public officials and the media should carefully explain that the final precipitating event was not the only cause of a given suicide. Most persons who have committed suicide have had a history of problems that may not have been acknowledged during the acute aftermath of the suicide. Cataloguing the problems that could have played a causative role in a suicide is not necessary, but acknowledgement of these problems is recommended.

Engaging in repetitive, ongoing or excessive reporting of suicide in the news

Repetitive and ongoing coverage, or prominent coverage, of a suicide tends to promote and maintain a preoccupation with suicde among at-risk persons, expecially among persons fifteen to twenty-four years of age. This pre-occupation appears to be associated with suicide contagion. Information presented to the media should include the association between such coverage and the potential for suicide contagion. Public officials and media representatives should discuss alternative approaches for coverage of newsworthy suicide stories.

Providing sensational coverage of suicide

By its nature, news coverage of suicidal events tends to heighten the general public's preoccupation with suicide. This reaction is also believed to be associated with contagion and the development of suicide clusters. Public officials can help minimize sensationalism by limiting, as much as possible, morbid details in their public discussions of suicide. News media professionals should attempt to decrease the prominence of the news report and avoid the use of dramatic photographs related to the suicide (eg. phototgraphs of the funeral, the deceased person's bedroom, and the site of the suicide)

Reporting "how-to" descriptions of suicide

Describing technical details about the method of suicide is undesirable. For example, reporting that a person died from carbon monoxide poisoning may not be harmful; however, providing details of the mechanism and procedures used to complete the suicide may facilitate initiation of the suicidal behaviour by other at-risk persons.

Presenting suicide as a tool for accomplishing certain ends

Suicide is usually a rare act of a troubled or depressed person. Presentation of suicide as a means of coping with personal problems (eg. the breakup of a relationship or retaliation against parental discipline) may suggest suicide as a potential coping mechanism to at-risk persons. Although such factors often seem to trigger a suicidal act, other psychopathological problems are almost always involved. If suicide is presented as an effective means of accomplishing a specific end, it may be perceived by a potentially suicidal person as an attractive solution.

Glorifying suicide or persons who commit suicide

News coverage is less likely to contribute to suicide contagion when reports of community expressions of grief (eg. public eulogies, flying of flags at half mast and erecting permanent public memorials) are minimized. Such actions contribute to suicide contagion by suggesting to susceptible persons that society is honoring the suicidal behaviour of the deceased person, rather than mouring their death.

Focusing on the suicide completor's positive characteristics

Empathy for the family and friends often leads to a focus on reporting the positive aspects of a suicide completor's life. For example, friends or teachers might be quoted as saying the deceased person "was a great kid" or "had a bright future" while avoiding mentioning the troubles and problems the deceased person had. As a result, statements venerating the deceased person are often reported in the news. However, if a suicide completor's problems are not acknowledged along with these laudatory statements, suicidal behaviour may appear attractive to other at-risk persons, especially those who rarely receive positive reinforcement for desirable behaviours.

Sources:
http://www.afsp.org/research/articles/gould.html
Night Falls Fast by Kay Fielding Jamison

The Werther Effect was identified by sociologist David Phillips of the University of California at San Diego. In addition to finding a link between suicide stories and subsequent suicides, he also found a link between highly publicized agression and homicides.

The following graphs provide evidence for the Werther Effect.

                        _
% change  +1400 |      | |
in        +1200 |      | |
monthly   +1000 |      | |    _
suicide    +800 |      | |   | |
rate.      +600 |      | |   | |
           +400 |      | |   | |          _
Usual      +200 |      | |   | |    _    | |
Suicide       - |______|_|___|_|___|_|___|_|___
Rate       -200 | |_|        
           -400 |
Month:            -1   Month  1     2     3
                        of
                       Story
            (based on 35 suicide stories 1947-1968)
Number       100 |              *
of            90 |             / |
commercial    80 |            *  |   
airline       70 |           /   | 
fatalities    60 |           |    \
              50 |           |    *   *  
              40 |           /    |  / \
              30 |          *      \ | |
              20 |         /        *  |
              10 |         |           \
               0 |_.__._._/_____________._._.__.___
Day:              -2 -1   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
                      story

The graphs for noncommercial airplane fatalities and for motor vehicle fatalities look similar to the one for commercial arline fatalities. There is a spike 3-4 days after the story, then another spike 7-9 days after the story.

Phillips research also found that a single suicide story resulted in an increase in single victim car crashes. A suicide-murder story resulted in an increase in multiple victim car crashes. Additionally, if the suicide story was about a young person, the number of young people involved in accidents increased. If the suicide story was about an older person, the number of older people involved in accidents increased. This is most likely due to perceptions of similarity the copycat has of himself with the widely publicized story. The copycat's decision to kill him/her self therefore appears to be an example of social proof. After hearing about the suicide, the copycat gets the notion that suicide is an acceptable way to deal with their problems.

The car and plane accidents that occurr after suicide stories are also particularly gruesome. In commercial airliners, the average number of deaths is three times higher one week after a suicide story than one week before. In car accidents, death occurrs four times faster one week after a story than one week before.

As I indicated above, the Werther Effect appears to apply to any instance of widely publicized aggression. Phillips analyzed media coverage of Heavyweight Championship Prize Fights between 1973 and 1978 and found that the coverage produced a "measurable increase in the U.S. homicide rate." Interestingly, it was found that if the loser was black, the homicide rate for black male victims rose during the following 10 days, but not for white victims. If the loser was white, the homicide rate for white male victims rose.

These findings present ethical concerns for newspaper and television news editors. Knowing that a front page suicide story will likely generate over 50 copycat suicides that would otherwise not have occurred, the publishing and broadcast of such stories should be carefully considered.


Source:
"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini

If you are contemplating suicide, please contact the nearest hospital or other emergency services in your area immediately.

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