Public health measures related to the transmissibility of suicide.
Journal: The Lancet. Public health
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Affiliated Institutions:
Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: j.pirkis@unimelb.edu.au.
Mental health, Alcohol, Substance use and Tobacco (MAST) Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
Public Mental Health Research Unit, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Orygen, Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Centre for Suicide Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Abstract summary
Transmission is an important concept in suicide prevention. It can occur when exposure to another person's death by suicide (or to suicide-related information more generally) draws attention to suicide or highlights specific suicide methods. In this paper, the fourth in a Series on a public health approach to suicide prevention, we contend that the transmissibility of suicide must be considered when determining optimal ways to address it. We draw on five examples of how transmission might occur and be prevented. The first two examples relate to transmission initiated by representations of suicide in traditional and new media. The third concerns transmission that leads to suicide clusters, and the fourth considers a specific setting in which transmission occurs, namely secondary schools. Finally, we discuss how suicide risk might be countered by the transmission of suicide prevention messages in media campaigns.
Authors & Co-authors:
Pirkis Jane J
Bantjes Jason J
Gould Madelyn M
Niederkrotenthaler Thomas T
Robinson Jo J
Sinyor Mark M
Ueda Michiko M
Hawton Keith K
Study Outcome
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