Does the internet cause copycat suicides?

I wonder if you have read the moving, tragic, and bizarre story of the suicides in Bridgend. It appears that a number of young people known to each other have committed suicide.

It has raised this question - is the internet to blame for these copycat suicides, if that is what they were?

Now this seems like one of those waffly, vague, pointless questions. But actually I think it is possible to attempt an answer.

The first thing to understand is that copycat suicides are not something new. In fact there is an academic name for them - the Werther Effect - and this name shows that these strange deaths have happened for many years.

Goethe’s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) was published in 1774. And its publication was followed by many reports of young men shooting themselves. Why? It was widely believed that these suicides were copies of the death of the novel's hero.

When academic David Phillips studied copycat suicides in the early 1970s, he coined the term Werther Effect.

Studying suicides in the US between 1947 and 1968, Phillips found that within two months of a front-page suicide, an average of 58 more people than usual killed themselves. And there is also a sharp rise in car crash fatalities and other forms of disguised suicides.

In 2001 it was noted in the American Journal of Epidemiology that:

statistical evidence indicates that suicide clusters occur primarily among teenagers and young adults and that they account for 1–5 percent of all teenage suicides.

Now, if suicide is contagious (an idea also raised by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point) it needs a means of spreading. And traditionally newspapers were that means.

Thus Professor Keith Hawton of Oxford University's Centre for Suicide Research reports:

Thirty studies were found which examined the possible impact of reporting of suicide in newspapers. In 21 there was evidence of an increase in suicides after the reports, with 10 of these also finding evidence of a causal link between the reported suicide(s) and those occurring following the report.

Most of the studies of copycat suicides look at the impact of celebrity deaths, since these are the suicides reported in newspapers. The death of Kurt Cobain is often cited as an example of a celebrity death that produced an increased number of suicides. And all over the world, newspapers have introduced codes to ensure their reporting does not increase problem.

Yet the work on social proof of Robert Cialdini and others suggests that people are more likely to copy each other's behaviour the more similar they feel they are to the people they are copying. A celebrity who they emotionally relate to might have this effect. But how much more so someone of their own age, in their own community.

Which is where the internet comes in.

The internet allows peer-to-peer publication. It allows the transmission of news about people very similar to you. One would expect it to be a stronger means of passing along the suicide bug.

It is, of course, ridiculous to "blame" the internet, even supposing we were certain of the exact circumstances in these terrible cases. You can't talk about the internet as if it were a person able to bear moral responsibility. And we do know that these sorts of deaths have been happening without the internet for centuries.

Yet there is a reason to hypothesise that in the internet era we will see more of them.

UPDATE: You can watch me talk about the Bridgend suicides here

Comments

[aaron]

TO much to read make shorter articles please.

thank you

[louis von Plankenstern]

When a youg man or woman commits suicide, and if he or she is someone who is over average and has an outstanding personality, could be the first step for more suicides of young people in general. The emptiness that we are suffering makes me remember the following phrase. Sic transit Gloria mund, which means Thus passes the glory of the world. I am quoting some poems in respectful memory of Heath Andrew Ledger, a wonderful actor, person, whom I had met at Washington Square, NYC, not more than a year ago and I find him just the opposite of the egocentric and narcissistic attitude of many Hollywood actors. Heather was an extremely simple young man, with a deep gaze coming from his eyes and soul; he had an enormous and quite generous heart. Few people know how much he gave to needy people. A contemporary James Dean, but he was a much better actor and man.
Another appropriate Latin phrase, which has been used recently during the funerals in Vienna of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, is Memento mori that may be freely translated as Remember that you are mortal, Yes he was mortal indeed like all of us and he was one of the best actors of his generation. I was quite touched by his words that having his daughter Matilda he does not need to live longer, because he can continue living through her daughter. That is why I had chosen the following poems on his memory, with all my admiration and respect, praying to Our Lord that make him rest in peace, maybe he had not such peace recently, but only God knows.
“It’s time my friend, it’s time. The heart demands peace.
Day flies after day, and every hour steals,
A crumb of life: meanwhile we delude ourselves
That we are living, and look we are already dying.
No happiness is here, but peace exists,
And freedom. A weary slave, I’ve long pursued
A dream of flight to a far-off
refuge of silence and pure delight” (Alexander Sergeievich Pushkin)

[Pete Hodge]

The death of these seven young lads is indeed a tragedy. But figures show that in recent years suicides by men and young men in particular have shown a dramatic and worrying trend.

Is the Internet the cause of the problem? Maybe, but it is more likely the social conditions young people have to face now. Little chance of work, peer pressure, after all, not every young person wants to be a drug taking drunk.

But maybe the problem is deeper than that. Today there is little sense of authroity in life. Nothing on wich young people can found their lives. When I was a teenager (1960's) we were pushing the boundaries back, but there was still a solid foundation to our lives.

That is gone now. My family were not religious, but there was a sense of a firm basis to life that owed itself to a biblical perspective. This was obvious in society as a whole. Today that has been removed by naturalistic darwinian theology, that does not provide a solid foundation.

We teach our youngsters that they are merely an advanced animal, and that the 'survival of the fittest' is the norm. Then when they find they are not among the 'fittest' they feel their is little point to life.

Is this acceptable teaching? Nope! But I do believe that if we honestly check back through history, we will find that as we have removed the Bible from life, so we have seen the increase of social problems. Now with the added complication of an impending Islamic takeover of our country,no jobs because the government encouragement of illegal or legal immigration, there is little left.

We have a totally corrupt government leaving us with no moral basis to life. What a mess.

I am so gald that I am getting near the end of my life. But I worry about my grandchildren

[SP]

If you are already contemplating suicide, but you've been trying to hang on, and you suddenly see that someone you admire or respect has given up, it's natural to feel inclined in the same direction. The person you read about was well known, was supposed to be successful, and yet they could not overcome the same state of mind you are experiencing. It makes some already fragile people give up hope--if that guy can't overcome this pain, how can I?

[Joe]

The Internet does not cause suicides, but it does facilitate it.

[Sue Booth]

What an awful Society - Thanks Labour !! No jobs for Brits. now no houses no room in England now!
Feel sorry for my children even walkin in the park !
Afraid for England !!!
Slap on the hand now for murdering people - gangs rule OK!!
Wish I could afford to move from this Hell Hole!

[Hansel]

louis von Plankenstern:I would like to thank your imaginary bearded man in the sky that you religious hypocrites never leave the American Bible Belt.
How many lives have been cut short in the name of religion, from the Crusades to the suicide bombers. When will this madness end?
Personally I do not need a false belief system to appreciate that life is short and precious!!
Please consider the poor parents of these young people that have to read your drivel.

[James Barlow]

Seven suicides - with ages spanning 17-27, in an area spanning 20 miles, from a population of 130,000, over a period spanning 16 months

There is no pattern here. The only commonality is Bebo, but it's the most popular Social Networking site in the UK in this age group. Correlation is not Causation.

There is no Death Cult! This whole story is just a phantom of the media, and it's disgraceful that the police and the polticians are playing along.

[Sam Butler]

I would be interested in how many of these cases were previously treated for mental illness. Not because I believe they were mentally unstable, necessarily, but because the drugs used to "treat" these supposed maladies have been linked to suicides and violent behaviour in the past. 'School shooters' in the US is one example, many of whom were found to have consumed psychiatric mind-altering drugs before killing others and, often, themselves.

In terms of an 'epidemic' I don't think it's that sweeping. But it is alarming, particularly considering the age of some of these young people. The Internet's role in the deaths is disputable, and will inevitably lead to parents restricting their children's access for fear that they become similarly preoccupied with suicidal thoughts.

The Internet is not the cause of these problems, but there is a cause there to be found and it should be investigated. Several suicides in a small Welsh community in one year could be a coincidence, but it is definitely an indicator that there is something to investigate.

[ALF]

A little more detail on the Werther effect. The copycat suicides often dressed up in the fictional heros characteristic flamboyant clothing, copied the method exactly by lying across a bed and in case someone should still not get the point they died with a copy of the book next to them open to the appropriate page.
oh, exquisite corpse!

[Sam Butler]

I have seen teen suicides related to anti-depressant medication and found this press release from a human rights group called CCHR:

http://www.cchr.org/index/22/19521/

This could shed some light on the situation.

[Jenny Hyatt]

There is much talk about the role of the Internet in suicide incitement and pacts. However, there is much less discussion of its role in suicide prevention and reduction. Due to a very deep personal crisis last year i set up a website bigwhitewall.com for people like me - who had everyday worries, deeper concerns and hidden secrets that they needed an anonymous space to share openly and honestly. We have had many people, young and old, arrive at the site in states of distress. Early evidence suggests that many find bigwhitewall.com a place to let go of what's on their mind and find ways through their issues. That was its intention and I hope that in time there will be many such services that allow people to release pressures before they resort to self harm or suicide.

[Mat]

Louis Von Plankenstern.

"I was quite touched by his words that having his daughter Matilda he does not need to live longer, because he can continue living through his daughter"

If you respect and admire such logic I would suggest taking a good look at yourself. I sympathize with delusional depressives, however the selfishness of such an action when you have a child of any age is nearly unforgivable.

[Ben]

You might well hypothesise that in the internet era we will see more suicide pacts/deaths.

A more accurate hypothesis might consider the levels economic and social deprivation has something more to do with it. You may 'wonder' whether the audience is aware of the hardships that were affecting pupils in this area.

Blaming social networking sites (or the Internet) as points toward an increase in suicide frequencies is like looking at the availability of rope in a rural town. These were tools used by people who were feeling suicidal, not elements which encourage suicide.

We should be focusing on the real factors that cause people to take their lives rather than clouding the issue with misnomers.

[Adam loverock]

Louis von Plankenstern: This is a small space to be discussing such matters, but my two pence. I am entirely unreligious, but have sometimes thought that maybe if people still believed in religion, alot of people would have more of a sense of purpose, and therefore be happier in life. However, I agree with Sue Booth, when she basically says, even a 'good/well intentioned' belief in something that is (In my opinion) obviously not true, is still a lie. People need to move away from fairy tales and see the world for what it is, and also learn to be happy in what the world is as they see it. That is the challenge of this Generation

[Carry Smith]

I do not feel that the internet and 'social websites' are the cause or even an influencing factor in the recent suicides. Social networking sites are a way to retain contact with friends who are away at uni or who have moved. They are not to be encourage suicide attempts. The fact that individuals have partook in this refects the problems they are facing as individuals and not due to social networking.

[Ellie Bakewell]

I just got back to the UK after a year and 3 months in Spain and it amazes me that more people haven't committed suicide. This country is the most depressing place I have ever been and it's getting worse.
I'm not saying I agree with suicide at all but it does surprise me that the rate of suicides here isn't higher, simply because the quality of life here is dreadful.
You wake up every morning to dark, rain-filled skies, get on a train full of coughing, sneezing, smelly people, work your socks off then return home to the same drivel that's on TV every night. It's like Groundhog Day here. Even if you do have a lot of money and/or free time, here's nothing to do but sit in some dingy pub, staring at your shoes, go out for a meal or go to the cinema. But all of this soon gets boring.
I think the reason kids are spending so much time on the net and being heavily influenced by these websites is because there just isn't anything for them to do now and probably think it'll be that way for the rest of their lives.
In Spain, kids finish school and go to the beach with their friends or sit round a table eating tapas with the whole family, laughing and chatting til it's time to go home to bed. There's a much more family-orientated way of life out there and I really wish things were the same here, that way, kids would lead much happier, fulfilled lives.

[EJ]

heyy
i have a bebo account,
and i have to say under NO circumstances does it encourage suicide!
suicide is about the how the person feels inside, NOT because its 'cool'.
the people who set up rememberance profiles for their friends are doing it coz they loved that person, not because the wanna encourage others to do the same! jeez. the people suggesting that need to rethink their stratagies for working out why they committed suicide.
thanks,
EJ
xox

[tom909]

This is silly. Like saying razor blades or knives are to blame for people slitting their wrists. The internet is a tool like any other, if people want to use it for bad purposes, it is their fault, not the fault of the internet.

[nonya]

I think social network sites save more lives than they harm. For some people, it's their ONLY connection to others. Loneliness is the biggest cause of suicide.
I think meds only increase the chances of suicide in someone who is already inclined towards it. It doesn't make you want to but what it does is, if you already wanted to, it numbs the feelings of remorse that would normally keep you from following through. Sometimes being so depressed that you are feeling like you don't even deserve "the easy way out" can save your life. Sad, huh?

[Petra Williams]

FORGIVE THE LENGTH
I live with suicide; I eat with it, sleep with it, and go on holiday with it. It is a part of my life I cannot shake. Yet I am not suicidal. I am its victim; I am its cast off. I am the conscience it cast aside. I am the screaming voice of logic that was ignored. I am the warrior fighting the cause, struck down in battle. I am the one it mocks, hanging over my head like a spider on a thread, waiting to cocoon me in its aftermath of despair once more. And still I fight, still I raise the battle cry, on once more into the depths of despair and depression, onward to the fields of desolation, side by side with my band of brothers; silent, searching, hoping, and forever alone. Onward once more to fight for those we love.
I live with the effects of suicide every day, It has scorched my life, it lingers in the back of my mind like a guilty conscience. It is forever there. Suicide is most defiantly contagious. But not like a cold, it’s a virus, it changes and mutates at it spreads. It infects everyone whose life it touches. And it affects everyone in a unique and very different way.
I have witnessed a depression so deep and profound that it infects an entire family. What is so obvious to me shows the face of ignorance to everyone else. A lifetime of doctors visits failed to produce even an ounce of understanding, a shred of wisdom to know this person needed a special kind of help. A history dipped deep in depression was overlooked and ignored; signs of help so tall they touched the sky, went unseen. My final desperate screams for help met with indifference.
Now he is gone.
Now I live with the knowledge and fear that the war is not over. Now I battle on for his brother, my love, my life, father of my children.
The only pattern to suicide is society’s indifference to a problem until it becomes public. We step over the roots to our problems daily, and only face them when the tree blocks our path. Seeds of despair can be sown very young, and we nurture them with our indifference. “It’s not my kid, its not my problem.” It’s everybody’s problem. Today’s children are the caretakers of tomorrow. They will serve your food at your wedding reception, check your brakes at the garage, help you bring life into the world, and watch over you as you say goodbye. Strong communities, breed strong adults. Its not religion that gives a sense of purpose and discipline, but the values that it puts on life, and the rules by which life is lived. Adopt the values and principles of goodness above all others and care for the next generation above all else, for they are your future; Ignore them and we must all live with the cost.

[x..Vikki..x]

heii
just lyk to say whatever you think about bebo you are completly wrong. so many people have bebo and not evry 1 that comitted suciside did any way.
i was a good friend of natasha randall and there was obviously something that made her think of this because she would have never thought about something like this for no reason. she has a goodlife and friends and family and even a boyfriend that loved her very much. why judge these people that have done it there was obviously something really wrong because they were all really happy people. so every time i see this sucide on the news or in the paper it make me laugh because they dont really no what she went through to do this or any of the others all of u people are just making up stories to get money.

you dont have a clue.!!!!!

thank you x..Vikki..x

[Aussie Philosopher]

have you head of the Church of Euthanasia?

[jody]

In many ways, those with power are destroying opportunities and future prospects for young people. This is called intergenerational tyranny.

[mathilde]

I don't think that the Internet has any link to suicide whatsoever. I mean, how has the influence of celebrity suicide led to the conclusion that the Net's to blame? I mean, sure, social networking sites can lead to cyber-bullying and such, but the whole point of social networking sites is to talk to your friends. If someone you don't know adds you, you don't add them. And celebrity suicides leading to copycat suicides? Sure, the news gets around faster on the Net, but you're going to find out about it anyhow. Why not blame newspapers, or magazines? And now the subject's led onto about how depression is somehow caused by peer pressure online. Yet again, the Net is to blame. So what, bullying now only exists in form of cyber-bullying?
I'm not saying that the Internet is entirely faultless and social networking sites have no factor in bullying, but depression and suicide can't all be explained by simply the Net.
As well as this, the Internet provides a kind of forum for people to talk about deaths of celebrities. If you went into a chatroom (which I am in no way recommending) and said "I'm going to kill myself because I miss Kurt Cobain", you'd probably be greeted with scorn.
Overall, my conclusion is that whilst the Net is not faultless, things like suicide and depression can't be simply blamed on social networking.

[raphael stachniss]

Suicide

I've been there
in pain like you
you say you
want to die, you lost so much
you can't see
a future anymore
your mind is pointing
towards suicide
but maybe you can see a
dream
one dream alone
to live on -
reminding you
that life , that love
are stronger in your heart
than death, aggression
and despair
don't kill yourself
someone you don't know
is waiting for you
in a place
you have to find
it may be you
a happy you on top of things
a you among your future
friends
and a love
a breath away
give that you a future
a tomorrow
you and time will sort things
out
don't kill yourself today
give yourself another hour
give yourself a night
another day, another week
another life
reach out for help
give your gun away
put the tablets in the toilet
cut that rope in pieces
don't walk down to that river
trust me
trust life
don't travel
dangerous roads alone
dial, talk , walk
for help
don't kill yourself today
the pain will cease , I've been
there.

[Anne Guedes]

I don't think Internet and that site bebo should be suspected. May be they didn't intend to take their own life by hanging. At least some of them, like Natasha. An Eton student hanged himself in 1999 and died. His friends explained it was a "fainting game" that went wrong.

[paul canning]

Danny, maybe you could stand out from your colleagues and look seriously at the media's role? It's instructive that journalists look at the internet, cults and everything else rather than take actual evidence (the police yesterday reported Bridgend teens telling them the media coverage was putting ideas in their head) which happens to be about them. The police and the parents are blaming you guys. How is the media being responsible if it just waves this away or - worse - doesn't report what they said as the tabloids do today? This speaks to me about journalistic arrogance and irresponsibility.

[Terry]

I think the strangest thing about this all is the memorial sites that are all over the internet. Supposed to be for family and friends to leave messages of sympathy and rememberance, but any passer by can leave a message, and these sites attract a lot of "death groupies" ppl who trawl these memorial sites and leave messages for ppl they never even knew.
Ppl used to be respectful were death was concerned, now its turned into some kind of circus show. Ppl trying to outdo each other with their messages. I find it all in very bad taste. Death is not something to be treated so lightly...or to be made into a caricature. Death is final. Comments of sleep tight,sleep in the arms of angels etc...turn my stomach, its making Death to be something more than it is. Regardless of your religious beliefs, Death is the end of your life on earth. You are not sleeping in that box in the ground, you are dead, your life has gone. These memorial sites with their sickly sweet messages of condolences only manage to glorify Death in a way that makes it a more appealing prospect for young kids.

[elsphit]

this is good i hope you could do it with us.
_________________________
elsphit
A team of successful entrepreneurs credited for
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[Christian Bross]

nice