Role of media reports in completed and prevented suicide: Werther v. Papageno effects

Abstract

The impact of suicide reporting may not be restricted to harmful effects; rather, coverage of positive coping in adverse circumstances, as covered in media items about suicidal ideation, may have protective effects.

Cobertura periodística sobre el suicidio: ¿habría riesgo de causar efectos negativos en personas susceptibles?

“…Al describir actitudes positivas que facilitaron esa superación, hay una asociación directa y positiva con la disminución de las tasas de suicidio (16)(17)(18).…”

Towards a shared understanding: Perspectives from Toronto’s first media forum for suicide prevention

“…9 Intriguingly, there is also preliminary evidence that media reports focusing on people mastering suicidal crises -that is, people contemplating suicide but instead finding alternatives, such as seeking treatmentappear to be associated with subsequent decreases in rates of suicide. 6 This phenomenon has been named the Papageno effect after a character in Mozart's "Magic Flute" who was convinced to abandon a suicide attempt. In acknowledgement of these issues, media reporting guidelines with similar content have been developed around the world, including in Canada.…”

“…6 This copycat phenomenon is known as the Werther effect and it is most apparent when there is excessive/repetitive reporting of suicide and especially in relation to celebrities. 7 This is thought to occur through social learning 8 whereby already vulnerable people identify with a person who has attempted or died from suicide.…”

Newspaper Reporting on a Cluster of Suicides in the UK

“…within the first two days of a report and over the next week (Bollen & Phillips, 1982), though 54 occasionally lasting longer (Fu & Yip, 2007). The prominence of the story and repetition of the 55 reporting may be particularly influential (Niederkrotenthaler et al, 2010). Identification with 56 the individual in the report or holding them in particular esteem can also influence impact 57 (Pirkis & Nordentoft, 2011 The newspapers included in the study were as follows: scoring system has been developed for PRINTQUAL (John, et al, 2014), for the purposes of 148 this study only the frequencies of non-weighted items are described.…”

“…The focus of this study was on newspaper articles only, rather than other types of reporting, reporting and reference to 'suicide epidemics' have also been found to influence suicide 314 rates (Niederkrotenthaler, et al, 2010 …”