Characterizing Suicide in Toronto: An Observational Study and Cluster Analysis

Sinyor, Mark; Schaffer, Ayal; Streiner, David L.

doi:10.1177/070674371405900106

Cited by 48 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…36 Notably, although firearm suicides account for less than 5% of all deaths in Toronto, 31 firearms were described as a method of suicide in 13% of articles. Furthermore, emerging evidence suggests that novel methods of asphyxia, such as helium inhalation, may be particularly prone to contagion, [37][38][39][40][41] and the results here would seem to support that.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports

Sinyor¹,

Schaffer²,

Nishikawa³

et al. 2018

CMAJ

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144

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Suicide is a major, global public health issue that accounts for at least 800 000 deaths per year worldwide.1 A substantial body of literature shows that media reports relating to suicide can influence some people to end their lives. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] This phenomenon, known as the Werther effect, is thought to occur via social learning, whereby a vulnerable person identifies with someone portrayed in the media and copies his or her behaviour. [5][6][7][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Studies in Australia, Austria and the United States have identified potentially harmful elements of media reporting associated with increased rates of subsequent suicide. 5,6,21 These include repetitive reporting, front-page story placement, reports about suicides by jumping, suicide death (rather than ideation or attempts), suicide pacts, including the word "suicide" or the suicide method in the headline, accompanying photos, "monocausal" (single cause and effect) explanations for suicide, and reports that included misinformation ("public myths") about suicide. 5,6,21 However, these elements were not tested or significant in all studies.A second phenomenon, called the Papageno effect, has been proposed whereby protective factors in reports on suicide may lead readers to initiate adaptive behaviours, resulting in fewer suicide deaths.5 In Austria, newspaper articles depicting "mastery of suicide," in which people experienced suicidal ideation but found solutions other than suicidal behaviour, were associated with decreased subsequent suicides. 5Responsible media reporting is one of a limited number of strategies, which also include restriction of means and schoolbased awareness programs, that may affect suicide rates at a popu lation level. [22][23][24] Worldwide, numerous guidelines have been developed to advise the media on best practices. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Exposure to media reporting on suicide can lead to suicide contagion and, in some circumstances, may also lead to help-seeking behaviour. There is limited evidence for which specific characteristics of media reports mediate these phenomena.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between suicide deaths and putatively harmful and protective factors in media reports

Sinyor¹,

Schaffer²,

Nishikawa³

et al. 2018

CMAJ

Self Cite

144

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…As part of a large study of OCC data on all suicides in the City of Toronto from 1998 to 2012 ( n = 3319 suicide deaths) (Schaffer et al 2014; Sinyor et al 2012, 2014), we examined 5 subgroups: (1) BD suicide by self-poisoning; (2) BD suicide by other methods; (3) non-BD suicide by self-poisoning; (4) non-BD, non-self-poisoning; (5) unipolar depression by self-poisoning.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-poisoning suicide deaths in people with bipolar disorder: characterizing a subgroup and identifying treatment patterns

Schaffer

Weinstock

Sinyor

et al. 2017

Int J Bipolar Disord

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ObjectiveTo characterize self-poisoning suicide deaths in BD compared to other suicide decedents.MethodsExtracted coroner data from all suicide deaths (n = 3319) in Toronto, Canada from 1998 to 2012. Analyses of demographics, clinical history, recent stressors, and suicide details were conducted in 5 subgroups of suicide decedents: BD self-poisoning, BD other methods, non-BD self-poisoning, non-BD other methods, and unipolar depression self-poisoning. Toxicology results for lethal and present substances were also compared between BD and non-BD self-poisoning subgroups as well as between BD and unipolar depression self-poisoning subgroups.ResultsAmong BD suicide decedents, self-poisoning was significantly associated with female sex, past suicide attempts, and comorbid substance abuse. In both the BD and non-BD self-poisoning groups, opioids were the most common class of lethal medication. For both groups, benzodiazepines and antidepressants were the most common medications present at time of death, and in 23% of the BD group, an antidepressant was present without a mood stabilizer or antipsychotic. Only 31% of the BD group had any mood stabilizer present, with carbamazepine being most common. No antidepressant, mood stabilizer, or antipsychotic was present in 15.5% of the BD group. Relative to unipolar depression self-poisoning group, the BD self-poisoning group evidenced higher proportion of previous suicide attempt(s) and psychiatry/ER visits in the previous week.ConclusionPeople with BD who die by suicide via self-poisoning comprise a distinct but understudied group. The predominant absence of guideline-concordant pharmacologic care comprises a crucial target for future policy and knowledge translation efforts.

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“…This work is part of a larger project examining suicide deaths in Toronto (Sinyor M., Schaffer A., Streiner D. Characterizing Suicide in Toronto: An Observational Study and Cluster Analysis. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ; 59(1):26–33. ); however, the previous paper did not specifically examine suicide in the older population.…”

Section: Previous Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cluster and latent class analyses have been used to demonstrate that suicide deaths across the lifespan may be sub-classified according to meaningful patterns of demographic, social and clinical risk factors (Chen et al, 2007;Logan et al, 2011;Sinyor et al, 2014). The largest clusters generally include people experiencing both mental illness and stressful life events, with smaller groups experiencing mental illness alone and, less commonly, stressors alone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%