Should the Media Be Condemned for Reporting on Individual Suicides?

Fitzpatrick, Joyce J.

doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2007.10.006

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Volume 22, Issue 1 , Pages 1-2, February 2008

Should the Media Be Condemned for Reporting on Individual Suicides?

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SUCH WAS THE question posted by the University College Cork Philosophical Society¹, an undergraduate debate society. The lecture hall was packed with several hundred students and members of the public. After two stirring presentations, one in favor of and one opposed to the motion, and several comments from the audience, the house voted in favor of the motion. The vote was not the most memorable component of the meeting for me, a visitor to Cork for less than 10 days before I attended the gathering. There were several other noteworthy occurrences.

First of all, there was wide acknowledgement that the increase in suicides in Ireland, especially among young people, is a national tragedy. But of course, these were the aware members of society; they were attending the debate because they were concerned citizens and wanted to do something to curb the tide. What was most remarkable was how the presenters spoke with passion and conviction based on their personal knowledge of the suicides that had occurred in their communities and lives. They wanted to make their local world a better place.

No doubt the formal presenters were aware of Ireland's National Strategy for Action (Health Service Executive, 2005). More than once, the citation was made to the facts that in Ireland more people die by suicide each year than by road accidents, that Ireland now has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and that Ireland has the fastest growing rate of youth suicide in the world.

Another important aspect of the debate that will remain with me for future presentations and lectures focused on suicide, and suicide prevention is the significant and meaningful statement made in the closing remarks. The chairman acknowledged that indeed some of the participants in that very room would be in need at this time, and he communicated directly to them that there was help available and that they had options other than suicide. The message was powerful given the facts cited above. No doubt someone in that room was hurting and had considered or was considering suicide as an option.

Nevertheless, travel across the Atlantic was not necessary. The same week there was a youth suicide in the U.S. town where I live. All reports indicated that the young man that shot four others before killing himself had communicated both verbally and nonverbally that he needed help. He was reaching out to others through his “goth” dress and through his verbal statements to other students. He also had been seen previously within the mental health system, and he had a history of previous suicide attempt.

Although it is easy to do the retrospective analysis, it is harder, for all of us, to intervene in the moment, even though we know the research would support immediate interventions. As part of my efforts abroad to develop a support group for those who are suicidal, I discovered a Web site of an organization named Metanoia. Besides all of the other details about mental health resources available on the site, there are two resources that are noteworthy for suicide prevention: a straightforward instruction guide for what anyone can do to help someone who may be suicidal and an online help for those who are suicidal (Metanoia, 2007). It is worth keeping the Web site available, using it for referrals for the young and the old. In the age of consistent internet use among young people in particular, it will be useful.

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