Association of increased youth suicides in the United States with the release of 13 Reasons Why
Niederkrotenthaler T, Stack S, Till B, et al. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online May 29, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0922
Proving that media can do both harm as well as good, this analysis of US suicide rates found that in the three months following the release of the Netflix series ‘13 Reasons Why’, suicide rates among 10-19 year olds significantly increased beyond national trends, particularly in females. While reducing the shame and stigma about discussing suicide is an obvious goal for society, finding safe and sensible ways of doing so requires better collaboration between health and media specialists.