Do news reports about suicide increase suicide attempts?
Yes. Research suggests that news reports which focus on celebrity suicide and specific suicide methods do correlate with an increase in attempts by teens with risk factors–especially attempts using the method described. This is called the “Werther Effect.” The more frequent the news report, the greater the increase in attempts. The same is true, to a lesser extent, of attempts presented in movies/television shows. If the news report or fictional show focuses heavily on the negative consequences of suicide attempts and suicides, that correlation begins to drop.
