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Is there any link between celebrity suicide and further suicidal behaviour in India?

Author

Listed:
  • Vikas Menon
  • Sujita Kumar Kar
  • Marthoenis Marthoenis
  • SM Yasir Arafat
  • Ginni Sharma
  • Charanya Kaliamoorthy
  • Ramdas Ransing
  • Srijeeta Mukherjee
  • Jigyansa Ipsita Pattnaik
  • Nikhilesh B Shirahatti
  • Natarajan Varadharajan
  • Susanta Kumar Padhy

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the factors that determine vulnerability to subsequent suicide in the community following a celebrity suicide. Our objective was to investigate the link between an alleged celebrity suicide and further suicidal behaviour in the community in India. Methods: Relevant news articles that reported suicidal behaviour in the population were retrieved from online news portals of regional and English language newspapers in the immediate month following the actor’s death. A deductive analysis of the retrieved suicide news articles was carried out using a pre-designed data extraction form. Results: A total of 1160 relevant news articles were identified from the local language ( n  = 985) and English ( n  = 175) newspapers. For a sizeable percentage of these reports ( n  = 65, 5.6%), the media reported links with celebrity suicide. Odds of subsequent suicide among young (Odds Ratios [OR] – 9.24), female (OR – 1.94), unemployed (OR – 7.26), those without precipitating life events (OR – 2.94) or mental illness (OR – 1.69) were higher among those with link to celebrity suicide; likewise, odds of death by hanging (OR – 49.84) and leaving a suicide note (OR – 2.03) were higher among those linked to celebrity suicide. English newspapers (OR – 4.23) were more likely to report events linked to celebrity suicide than local language newspapers Conclusion: Persons who died by suicide by hanging after a celebrity suicide are more likely to be young, female, unemployed, have a mental disorder or precipitating life events. Suicide prevention efforts must focus on this group and prevent the same method of suicide like that of the celebrity.

Suggested Citation

  • Vikas Menon & Sujita Kumar Kar & Marthoenis Marthoenis & SM Yasir Arafat & Ginni Sharma & Charanya Kaliamoorthy & Ramdas Ransing & Srijeeta Mukherjee & Jigyansa Ipsita Pattnaik & Nikhilesh B Shirahatt, 2021. "Is there any link between celebrity suicide and further suicidal behaviour in India?," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(5), pages 453-460, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:67:y:2021:i:5:p:453-460
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764020964531
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. King-wa Fu & C H Chan, 2013. "A Study of the Impact of Thirteen Celebrity Suicides on Subsequent Suicide Rates in South Korea from 2005 to 2009," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, January.
    2. Fahey, Robert A. & Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Ueda, Michiko, 2018. "Tracking the Werther Effect on social media: Emotional responses to prominent suicide deaths on twitter and subsequent increases in suicide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 19-29.
    3. Jae-Hyun Kim & Eun-Cheol Park & Jung-Mo Nam & SoHee Park & Jaelim Cho & Sun-Jung Kim & Jae-Woo Choi & Eun Cho, 2013. "The Werther Effect of Two Celebrity Suicides: an Entertainer and a Politician," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
    4. Ueda, Michiko & Mori, Kota & Matsubayashi, Tetsuya & Sawada, Yasuyuki, 2017. "Tweeting celebrity suicides: Users' reaction to prominent suicide deaths on Twitter and subsequent increases in actual suicides," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 158-166.
    5. Vikas Menon & Charanya Kaliamoorthy & Vivekanandhan Kavanoor Sridhar & Natarajan Varadharajan & Rini Joseph & Shivanand Kattimani & Sujita Kumar Kar & SM Yasir Arafat, 2020. "Do Tamil newspapers educate the public about suicide? Content analysis from a high suicide Union Territory in India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(8), pages 785-791, December.
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