Suicide

Contrary to a 2019 study, a data reanalysis found no evidence of an increase in adolescent suicide rates after the release of Netflix's "13 Reasons Why."

Two-thirds of the news stories analyzed last year debunked the holiday-suicide myth, the false claim that suicides increase over the holidays, according to new research from the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

Although some researchers have attributed the rise in adolescent suicide to social media and smart phone use, researcher Dan Romer says economic and parental pressures are as likely to blame.

A recent study estimated that an additional 195 suicide deaths among young people occurred after the release of the TV series “13 Reasons Why.” A commentary co-authored by APPC's Dan Romer asks how to interpret that number and whether it obscures a complex set of media effects.

A study of adults based on a two-wave survey finds an association between seeing images of self-harm on Instagram and subsequent self-harm. Most who say they've seen the images report being disturbed by them.

Given the series’ popularity and its potentially harmful effects, researchers at APPC and three other institutions conducted a study to more fully understand the effects of the show through a survey of U.S. young adults, ages 18 to 29, before and after the May 2018 release of its second season.

Despite the fact that the holiday season has some of the lowest average daily suicide rates, some journalists continue to inadvertently perpetuate the holiday-suicide myth.

For media reporting on the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, these recommendations for reporting on suicide were developed by mental health, journalism and suicide prevention authorities, including APPC.