Suicides Increased for Months After Death of Robin Williams, Report Suggests

In the five months following the death by suicide of the popular actor and comedian Robin Williams on August 11, 2014, there was a nearly 10% increase in the number of people who died by suicide in the United States, according to epidemiologists at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Although the uptick in suicides was seen across gender and age groups, men and those aged 30 to 44 had the greatest increases in suicides, according to thereport published today inPLOS One.“Research has shown that the number of suicides increases following a high-profile celebrity suicide, but this is the first study, to our knowledge, that has examined the effect of a high-profile suicide on the general population within the modern era of the 24-hours news cycle,” David S. Fink, M.P.H., M.Phil., of Columbia’s Department of Epidemiology said in apress release.For the study, Fink and colleagues examined monthly suicide count data and monthly suicide rates from January 1999 to December 2015 by sex, age, and method, collected in a CDC database known asCDC Wonder. The researchers used a statistical method that took into consideration seasonal suicide patterns to estimate the number of suicides that took place between August and December 2014.The model estimated that 16,849 suicides would occur from August to December 2014; however, 18,690 suicides —an excess of 1,841 suicides (9.85% increase)—were reported. Those aged 30 to 44 showed the greatest increase in suicides at...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: CDC David Fink Maria A. Oquendo PLoS One Robin Williams suicide Source Type: research