For those suffering from depression, coverage of celebrity suicides can be a trigger.
Early this week, 15-year-old Anushka (name changed), a Class X student, turned up distressed at the weekly counselling session at her school in south Delhi. “I can’t take my parents’ fighting anymore and I know they are going to begin divorce proceedings. Maybe I need to take my own life to make them realise that what they are doing is wrong,” the teenager said. “When I die, then the whole world and all our families will read about it in the newspapers and see it on TV.” Her counsellor’s worst fears were coming true, he told ET Magazine asking not to identify himself or his patient due to privacy concerns. After the deaths by suicide of two high-profile American celebrities — accessories designer Kate Spade and TV host and chef Anthony Bourdain — mental health experts not just in the US, but also in India, have been concerned about how that might affect people coping with depression and thoughts of harming themselves and suicide.
Psychologists say a constant flow of social media posts, television stories and newspaper articles on suicide can act as trigger for vulnerable patients with mental health issues. “It can be the tipping point, which gives them ‘permission’ to act on what they had so far just been thinking about. We have seen similar surges in India following the deaths of actors Pratyusha Banerjee (in April 2016) and Jiah Khan (in June 2013),” says Hvovi Bhagwagar, Mumbai-based clinical psychologist who specialises in trauma therapy. There is, in fact, an unwritten code among healthcare professionals in India to not contribute to sensationalised articles or content on suicide deaths of celebrities. In the past one week, Bhagwagar has heard clients mention the Spade and Bourdain deaths at every session she has had at her clinic. She recalls that depression/suicide ideation among her clients was much higher during the media coverage of Hollywood actor Robin Williams’ death in August 2014.
In India, youngsters in the age group of 15-24 are considered among the most vulnerable when it comes to depression and mental health issues. Also, suicide contagion, or tendency towards copycat suicide, is likely to affect them the most, according to mental health experts.
“Such a situation arises when there is a lot of media coverage or talk around a suicide, which triggers the suicide of another susceptible person. This can happen when a celebrity, highprofile personality or a person of importance takes his or her life. Responsible reporting is extremely important. Using the correct clinical terminology and reporting the incidents accurately are crucial,” says Dr Zirak Marker, advisor and senior psychiatrist, Mpower. However, he also warns against young people seeking solace on WhatsApp groups, chat rooms and video conferences where those with mental health concerns sometimes seem to support each other in counter- productive and unhealthy ways. “As a society and as individuals we have to be more aware, cognizant and vigilant: take more precautions and preemptive measures when it comes to those who are vulnerable, especially our children and youth.”
Although no studies on celebrity suicide have been conducted in India, there’s enough evidence from the US to suggest that large-scale media coverage, which does not follows prescribed guidelines, can lead to an increase in deaths by suicide.
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Dr Samir Parikh, director of the department of mental health and behavioral sciences at Fortis Healthcare, says: “There needs to be a balance in reporting a suicide — between providing information about such incidents and preventing any further harm in the process. Also, there is a need to guide the readers towards the accurate means of reaching out for help.” Significantly, after Robin Williams died, there was a spike in phone calls to suicide prevention helplines. In the US, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was an almost 10% increase in suicides (1,841 more cases than expected) in 2014, the year Williams passed away. The rise in suicide was among middle-aged men. “This isn’t a new phenomenon,” says Nelson Vinod Moses, founder of Suicide Prevention India Foundation. “According to a Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health report, there was close to 12% increase in suicide deaths after Marilyn Monroe died from a barbiturate overdose in 1962.”
According to Madelyn Gould, professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at Columbia University, US, copycat self-destructive acts account for at least 5% of youth suicides in America each year. Even though there isn’t any data specifically for India, Moses reckons that the importance of media coverage can be highlighted by the fact that the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found that news coverage of suicide likely plays a role in approximately 10% of the suicide deaths of people younger than 25. He also adds that there is enough evidence about suicide contagion and suicide clusters when it comes to distressed farmers in India.
Anthony Bourdain: The Chef Who Courted Controversy
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The culinary world - and others included - sunk into collective depression on Friday after news broke of Anthony Bourdain's death. The celebrity chef was in France working on an upcoming episode of his CNN series. His friend, French chef Eric Ripert, found him unresponsive in his hotel room on Friday morning.
The culinary world - and others included - sunk into collective depression on Friday after news broke of Anthony Bourdain's death. The celebrity chef was in France working on an upcoming episode of h..
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Bourdain, seen here in pic with Italian actor and director Asia Argento for the Women In The World Summit in New York earlier in April this year, had a chequered journey.
His walk of fame began in 2000 with the publication of “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.” Years of hard work in kitchens around Manhattan, and as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles, finally paid off. The best-seller was hailed by critics for its witty, energetically written look behind-the-scenes of the restaurant industry. The book expanded on a 1999 New Yorker article that he had sent to The New Yorker about the underbelly of the restaurant world and its deceptions.
Bourdain, seen here in pic with Italian actor and director Asia Argento for the Women In The World Summit in New York earlier in April this year, had a chequered journey. His walk of fame began in 20..
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Bourdain followed up his literary success into a gig with Food Network hosting “A Cook’s Tour.” This happened to be his breakout moment with Bourdain’s signature programming approach — it followed the chef with the hangdog look, slightly hungover to exotic ports of call, trying out local cuisine and giving a sneak peek into foreign cultures.
He repeated the concept on the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations” and “The Layover”, both successful shows that aired from 2005 to 2013.
Bourdain followed up his literary success into a gig with Food Network hosting “A Cook’s Tour.” This happened to be his breakout moment with Bourdain’s signature programming approach — it followed th..
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Anthony Bourdain seen here with the outstanding informational series or special award for 'Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown' backstage at the 2015 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. As part of the show, Bourdain ate grilled pork and noodles with President Barack Obama in Hanoi, examined the legacy of apartheid in Johannesburg, dug into pig ear sandwiches in the Mississippi Delta, and experienced the harvest festival, Gawai Dayak, in Borneo. It was in Borneo that Bourdain was asked and complied with a request from villagers to plunge a spear into the heart of a pig!
Anthony Bourdain seen here with the outstanding informational series or special award for 'Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown' backstage at the 2015 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. As part of t..
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Bourdain was never too far from controversies. Apart from being admonished by some for cultural invasion, he was recently declared "persona non grata for his disrespect of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty." The Foreign Ministry spokesman of Azerbaijan told Agence France-Presse. "Filming a food show on Azerbaijan's occupied territory is an insult to one million Azerbaijani refugees who were forcefully expelled from their homes."
Bourdain was never too far from controversies. Apart from being admonished by some for cultural invasion, he was recently declared "persona non grata for his disrespect of Azerbaijan's territorial in..
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