Talk:Copycat suicide
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[edit] Inclusion of WHO Guidelines
The guidelines from the WHO are really POV, so I've removed them. Wikipedia should not give people advice on how to prevent suicide. Guanaco 03:58, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- Why do you say that? Wikipedia gives guidelines on how to treat people who are suicidal. It gives guidelines on how to manage all sorts of issues. These are guidelines which, should the journalist chose to use them, will lead to fewer copycat suicides. What is POV about that? --CloudSurfer 04:06, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- There are varying opinions on these issues, such as the view that the news media should report the whole truth, the view that suicide is a human right, and the anti-psychiatry movement. It is not Wikipedia's job to prevent suicides. We are not the WHO; we report objectively. Guanaco 04:43, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- I have taken the essence of the issue and put it in the article. I believe it is NPOV. See what you think. If it needs further balance then please add that rather than taking away what is there. --CloudSurfer 05:03, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- I am happy to remove the stuff below from the talk page or it will clutter up the page. Should it be archived? --CloudSurfer 05:04, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- There are varying opinions on these issues, such as the view that the news media should report the whole truth, the view that suicide is a human right, and the anti-psychiatry movement. It is not Wikipedia's job to prevent suicides. We are not the WHO; we report objectively. Guanaco 04:43, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
Below is what I would like to include. It could be changed to make it NPOV if there is concern about the language, however, this is in general an attitude held by the media and the public once they know the facts about suicide contagion.
[edit] History
The nature of copycat suicides suggests that it is a phenomenon that must have been with us since the development of civilization. One of the earliest known associations between the media and suicide arose from Goethe’s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther), published in 1774. In that work the hero shoots himself after an ill-fated love, and shortly after its publication there were many reports of young men using the same method to commit suicide. This resulted in a ban of the book in several places. Hence the term "Werther effect", used in the technical literature to designate copycat suicides.
[edit] Guidelines for suicide reporting
The following guidelines are from the World Health Organization.1
[edit] How to report on suicide in general
Specific issues that need to be addressed when reporting on suicide include the following:
- Statistics should be interpreted carefully and correctly;
- Authentic and reliable sources should be used;
- Impromptu comments should be handled carefully in spite of time pressures;
- Generalizations based on small figures require particular attention, and expressions such as "suicide epidemic" or "the place with the highest suicide rate in the world" should be avoided;
- Reporting suicidal behaviour as an understandable response to social or cultural changes or degradation should be resisted.
[edit] How to report on a specific suicide
The following points should be borne in mind:
- Sensational coverage of suicides should be assiduously avoided, particularly when a celebrity is involved. The coverage should be minimized to the extent possible. Any mental health problem the celebrity may have had should also be acknowledged. Every effort should be made to avoid overstatement. Photographs of the deceased, of the method used and of the scene of the suicide are to be avoided. Front page headlines are never the ideal location for suicide reports.
- Detailed descriptions of the method used and how the method was procured should be avoided. Research has shown that media coverage of suicide has a greater impact on the method of suicide adopted than the frequency of suicides. Certain locations - bridges, cliffs, tall buildings, railways, etc. - are traditionally associated with suicide and added publicity increases the risk that more people will use them.
- Suicide should not be reported as unexplainable or in a simplistic way. Suicide is never the result of a single factor or event. It is usually caused by a complex interaction of many factors such as mental and physical illness, substance abuse, family disturbances, interpersonal conflicts and life stressors. Acknowledging that a variety of factors contributes to suicide would be helpful. Suicide should not be depicted as a method of coping with personal problems such as bankruptcy, failure to pass an examination, or sexual abuse.
- Reports should take account of the impact of suicide on families and other survivors in terms of both stigma and psychological suffering.
- Glorifying suicide victims as martyrs and objects of public adulation may suggest to susceptible persons that their society honours suicidal behaviour. Instead, the emphasis should be on mourning the person’s death.
- Describing the physical consequences of non-fatal suicide attempts (brain damage, paralysis, etc.) can act as a deterrent.
[edit] Providing information on help available
Media can play a proactive role in helping to prevent suicide by publishing the following information along with news on suicide:
- Listing available mental health services and helplines with their up-to-date telephone numbers and addresses;
- Publicizing the warning signs of suicidal behaviour;
- Conveying the message that depression is often associated with suicidal behaviour and that depression is a treatable condition;
- Offering a message of sympathy to the survivors in their hour of grief and providing telephone numbers of support groups for survivors, if available. This increases the likelihood of intervention by mental health professionals, friends and family in suicidal crises.
[edit] References
1 Preventing suicide: A report for media professionals - World Health Organization, 2000
[edit] Rename page?
Do you guys think either 'Suicide and the media' or 'Suicide contagion' is a better title? It's a broader subject and more could probably be added in that form. Thoughts? Gflores Talk 17:10, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Brazil
In Brazil, the suicides are mentioned in press (but not how they happen)
[edit] Norway
There used to be a ban on mentioning suicides in the press, but not anymore. There have been a fair amount of suicides reported in recent times. But 70 years ago Aftenposten(a big Norwegian newspaper) got stoned after writing that a ice skating champion had killed himself. But it's not like that anymore.
[edit] References fixing
I fixed the references so they now use proper citation templates.
What was numbered 5 is not used in the article itself, and the URL itself leads to 404 page so I removed that. Here's the references so someone can re-add it if working URL can be found:
- Mindframe national media initiative Australian Government - Department of health and ageing
The second problem is improper citation. Old number 7 cited "Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders" but gave ISBN for "Abnormal Psychology with MindMap II CD-ROM and PowerWeb". Since only the second book had coauthors I changed the title and left the ISBN intact. If it is in fact the other book the right citation source, then someone should change the ISBN, remove coauthor and change date of publication to January 2007. Shinhan 15:21, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
