Information Accessibility of the Charcoal Burning Suicide Method in Mainland China

Abstract

BackgroundThere has been a marked rise in suicide by charcoal burning (CB) in some East Asian countries but little is known about its incidence in mainland China. We examined media-reported CB suicides and the availability of online information about the method in mainland China.MethodsWe extracted and analyzed data for i) the characteristics and trends of fatal and nonfatal CB suicides reported by mainland Chinese newspapers (1998–2014); ii) trends and geographic variations in online searches using keywords relating to CB suicide (2011–2014); and iii) the content of Internet search results.Results109 CB suicide attempts (89 fatal and 20 nonfatal) were reported by newspapers in 13 out of the 31 provinces or provincial-level-municipalities in mainland China. There were increasing trends in the incidence of reported CB suicides and in online searches using CB-related keywords. The province-level search intensities were correlated with CB suicide rates (Spearman’s correlation coefficient = 0.43 [95% confidence interval: 0.08–0.68]). Two-thirds of the web links retrieved using the search engine contained detailed information about the CB suicide method, of which 15% showed pro-suicide attitudes, and the majority (86%) did not encourage people to seek help.LimitationsThe incidence of CB suicide was based on newspaper reports and likely to be underestimated.ConclusionsMental health and suicide prevention professionals in mainland China should be alert to the increased use of this highly lethal suicide method. Better surveillance and intervention strategies need to be developed and implemented.

Public relations, media coverage, and public opinion in contemporary China: Testing agenda building theory in a social mediated crisis

“…To collect the news articles, WiseNews is used as the database, which covers more than 335 representative full-text newspapers in mainland China (Cheng, Chang, Guo, & Yip, 2015). According to people.com.cn, newspapers in Mainland fall into two categories: state-owned (dangbao) or non-state owned (fei dangbao).…”

Suicide by charcoal burning: a digital age phenomenon

“…Following the first reported case of a 38‐year old woman in Hong Kong, in 1998 (Liu et al., ), it is now one of the most common modes of suicide in Asia, accounting for 20% of all suicides in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Japan, it accounts for 12.8% of male suicides and 5.9% of females (Kato et al., ), with increases also noted in South Korea, Singapore (Cheng, Chang, Guo, & Yip, ) and Taiwan, where this method increased 65‐fold between 1995 and 2011 (Chang, Kwok, Cheng, Yip, & Chen, ). This increase in charcoal suicides in Hong Kong have not been compensated by decreases in other methods, indicating that the availability of this method of suicide may be contributing to increased suicide rates (Liu et al., ).…”

“…The emergence and increasing rates of suicide by charcoal requires explanation. Several authors have highlighted the increased accessibility of charcoal for cooking and heating purposes (Cheng et al., ), the inexpensiveness of acquiring charcoal (Schmitt et al., ), the higher degree of effectiveness (and therefore mortality) than alternatives such as hanging (Ji et al., ). The increase in charcoal burning as a mode of suicide has occurred in parallel with the effectiveness of efforts to decrease the toxicity of car exhaust fumes via use of catalytic converters (Schmitt et al., ).…”

“…The media and Internet have played a significant role in the rising use of charcoal burning as a form of suicide. Over the last two decades there has been a significant rise in the use of the Internet, particularly in Asia, and this has resulted in detailed technical information about methods of suicide becoming readily available to a wide audience (Chang et al., ; Cheng et al., ). One study found that an increase in Google search volume relating to charcoal burning was related to the incidence of suicide by this method in that same week as suicides increased and in the week following this change (Chang et al., ).…”

“…One study found that an increase in Google search volume relating to charcoal burning was related to the incidence of suicide by this method in that same week as suicides increased and in the week following this change (Chang et al., ). A further study noted that of the 18 wiki‐style pages that detailed suicide methods, none encouraged a person considering suicide to seek help (Cheng et al., ).…”