Suicide Deaths Are Often ‘Contagious.’ This May Help Explain Why

In the wake of any high-profile suicide, public health experts steel themselves for the aftershock. Suicide contagion, the phenomenon by which exposure to one suicide death can trigger suicidal behavior in others, is well-documented but poorly understood. A recent study published in the journal Society and Mental Health adds to the knowledge about why suicide contagion occurs. And it spotlights a common mistake that people may make when a community experiences suicide: normalizing these deaths. “When there’s an unexpected death, people take notice,” says study co-author Seth Abrutyn, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia in Canada. “They try to make sense of what’s happening.” And when they do, Abrutyn says, community members may unwittingly contribute to suicide contagion. For the study, Abrutyn and his colleague Anna Mueller embedded in “Poplar Grove,” a pseudonym for a wealthy, predominantly white suburb in the U.S. with an unusually high youth suicide rate. At least 16 current or recently graduated high school students there have died by suicide since 2005, the paper says. Three distinct “suicide clusters,” or related strings of suicide deaths, have been identified in Poplar Grove, and each one involved at least one “high status” young woman who was academically, socially and extracurricularly successful. For more than two years (during which time three new suici...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized public health Source Type: news