Robin Williams' death followed by rise in suicides
'The wall-to-wall media coverage of Williams’ death almost certainly contributed to the rise, the team at Columbia University found. '
'Suicides went up 10 percent across the U.S. in the four months after actor and comedian Robin Williams died in 2014, researchers reported Wednesday. '
'It’s a high-profile example of how “copycat” deaths can follow headline-making suicides, the researchers said. '
'But there were 18,960 suicides in the last third of 2014.“Although we cannot determine with certainty that these deaths are attributable to the death of Robin Williams, we found both a rapid increase in suicides in August 2014, and specifically suffocation suicides, that paralleled the time and method of Williams’ death.”It has been known for decades that media reports about suicides, especially celebrity suicides, lead to an increase of suicide deaths. '
'In years past, during the same season, about 16,800 suicides would have been usual. '
[–] Artofchoke ago
Suicide is contagious.
[–] 9-11 ago
Works of evil and temptation are like that - if your mind works that way.
[–] Artofchoke ago
You think suicide is evil? If a person is in a lot of pain, and they've tried the methods available, aren't they free to stop that suffering?