5 ms·

While the Werther-effect[1][2] appears to be fairly well documented, it is very hard to point to causation in statistics like these. However, in spite of the

by hodder 7y ago

While the Werther-effect[1][2] appears to be fairly well documented, it is very hard to point to causation in statistics like these. However, in spite of the questionable stats, many media outlets such as the CBC err on the conservative side and have adopted practices to avoid detailed reporting on suicides to prevent the Werther effect.[3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide [2] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/werther-effect-after-television-films-new-evidence-for-an-old-hypothesis/56B52C2C2B22B78DF56892191A2D518B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medici... [3] http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/reporting-to-canadians/acts-and-policies/programming/journalism/crime-and-police-reporting/ http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/reporting-to-canadians/act...

vivekd 7y ago
yeah my first thought is: Is the work of art causing people to commit suicide or are people who are already suicidal drawn to art about suicide and prone to romanticizing and copying the art
- tk75x 7y ago
  In either case, reducing the amount of art about suicide or making it more difficult to access would prevent at least some people from going through with suicide.
DanBC 7y ago
The werther effect is robust when talking about news reporting, and we see it supported by a wide range of research in that context. Here's one nice example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19573483 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19573483 --begin quote-- OBJECTIVE: Evidence suggests that there is an increase in the suicide rate following incidents of celebrity suicide in different countries, but there are no data on the overall suicide risk across countries. The duration of increased suicide rates is usually assumed to be on a monthly basis, but the weekly increase remains uncertain. This study aims at estimating the risk for suicide after the suicide deaths of entertainment celebrities in Asia during the first 4 weeks after the celebrity suicides and on a weekly basis. METHOD: An ecological, retrospective time-series analysis and a meta-analysis of the suicide deaths in 3 Asian regions: Hong Kong (from 2001 to 2003), Taiwan, and South Korea (both from 2003 to 2005). RESULTS: The combined risks for suicide were found to be 1.43 (95% CI = 1.23 to 1.66), 1.29 (95% CI = 1.12 to 1.50), and 1.25 (95% CI = 1.08 to 1.45) in the first, second, and third week, respectively, after suicides of entertainment celebrities, while adjusting for secular trends, seasonality, economic situation, and temporal autocorrelation. The same-gender and same-method specific increases suggest that as people identify more with the celebrity, their risk for suicide rises. A medium-term rise in suicides up to 24 weeks after the incidents of celebrity suicide is also evident. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to estimate risk for suicides following celebrity suicides across 3 Asian regions. The results provide important information for public health policy makers in assessing the elevated risk associated with excessive media coverage of celebrity suicide and developing timely evidence-based interventions.
morley 7y ago
I wonder if the Werther effect also applies to murder-suicides and spree killings. (My non-scientific intuition is that those behaviors are in the same direction.) Personally I think the world would be better off if the media stopped reporting on spree killings, but I think any application of that policy would meet public backlash under the guise of "the public has a right to know."

by hodder 7y ago

vivekd 7y ago

yeah my first thought is: Is the work of art causing people to commit suicide or are people who are already suicidal drawn to art about suicide and prone to romanticizing and copying the art

tk75x 7y ago
In either case, reducing the amount of art about suicide or making it more difficult to access would prevent at least some people from going through with suicide.

DanBC 7y ago

The werther effect is robust when talking about news reporting, and we see it supported by a wide range of research in that context. Here's one nice example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19573483 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19573483 --begin quote-- OBJECTIVE: Evidence suggests that there is an increase in the suicide rate following incidents of celebrity suicide in different countries, but there are no data on the overall suicide risk across countries. The duration of increased suicide rates is usually assumed to be on a monthly basis, but the weekly increase remains uncertain. This study aims at estimating the risk for suicide after the suicide deaths of entertainment celebrities in Asia during the first 4 weeks after the celebrity suicides and on a weekly basis. METHOD: An ecological, retrospective time-series analysis and a meta-analysis of the suicide deaths in 3 Asian regions: Hong Kong (from 2001 to 2003), Taiwan, and South Korea (both from 2003 to 2005). RESULTS: The combined risks for suicide were found to be 1.43 (95% CI = 1.23 to 1.66), 1.29 (95% CI = 1.12 to 1.50), and 1.25 (95% CI = 1.08 to 1.45) in the first, second, and third week, respectively, after suicides of entertainment celebrities, while adjusting for secular trends, seasonality, economic situation, and temporal autocorrelation. The same-gender and same-method specific increases suggest that as people identify more with the celebrity, their risk for suicide rises. A medium-term rise in suicides up to 24 weeks after the incidents of celebrity suicide is also evident. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to estimate risk for suicides following celebrity suicides across 3 Asian regions. The results provide important information for public health policy makers in assessing the elevated risk associated with excessive media coverage of celebrity suicide and developing timely evidence-based interventions.

morley 7y ago

I wonder if the Werther effect also applies to murder-suicides and spree killings. (My non-scientific intuition is that those behaviors are in the same direction.) Personally I think the world would be better off if the media stopped reporting on spree killings, but I think any application of that policy would meet public backlash under the guise of "the public has a right to know."