Suicides in Australia following media reports of the death of Robin Williams

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the extent to which local reporting of Robin Williams’ suicide (on 11 August 2014) was associated with suicide in Australia. It followed several studies in the United States which showed that there were significant increases in suicide following media reports of Williams’ death and that those media reports were less than optimal in terms of adherence to best-practice guidelines. In a previous study, we demonstrated that Australian media reports of Williams’ suicide were largely adherent with our Mindframe guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide, so we speculated that there would be no increase in suicide following the reporting of Williams’ suicide in Australia. Method: We extracted data on Australian suicides from the National Coroners Information System for the period 2001 to 2016. We conducted interrupted time series regression analyses to determine whether there were changes in suicides in the 5-month period immediately following Williams’ suicide. Results: Our hypothesis that there would be no increase in suicides in Australia following Williams’ highly publicised suicide was not supported. There was an 11% increase in suicides in the 5-month period following Williams’ death, largely accounted for by men aged 30–64 and by people who died by hanging (the method Williams used). Conclusion: It may be that Australians were exposed to reports that contravened safe reporting recommendations, particularly via overseas media or social media, and/or that some Australian reports may have had unhelpful overarching narratives, despite largely adhering to the Mindframe guidelines. The Mindframe guidelines constitute international best practice but consideration should be given to whether certain recommendations within them should be further reinforced and whether more nuanced information about how stories should be framed could be provided. Future revision and augmentation of the Mindframe guidelines should, as always, involve media professionals.

Calls to helplines in Australia following media reports of Robin Williams’ suicide

“…In Australia, we found that the reporting was far more considered and generally in line with the local Mindframe guidelines on media reporting of suicide (Pirkis et al, Forthcoming), but we still found an increase in suicides of the same magnitude to that observed in the United States (10% over five months) (Pirkis et al, 2019). Likewise, Whitley and colleagues found that reporting in Canada largely showed good adherence to the Canadian Mindset guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide (Creed & Whitley, 2017), but that, despite this, there was a demonstrable increase in suicides (16% over five months) (Whitley, Fink, Santaella‐Tenorio, & Keyes, 2019).…”

Association between suicide reporting in the media and suicide: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Egger’s test was not significant (P=0.60). Because three studies in the primary analysis were about the same celebrity (Robin Williams), we performed a final sensitivity analysis where we excluded two of the studies, retaining the study with the lowest risk of bias 36. The pooled rate ratio was 1.10 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.15, P<0.001, I 2 =61.8%) over a median follow-up of 28 days (range 7-60 days).…”

“…Media reporting on a suicide method increases the cognitive availability of this method,7 and individuals considering suicide might be more likely to subsequently select the method used by celebrities. The evidence suggests that suicide by hanging, for example, especially among men aged 45-64 years, increased after the suicide of Robin Williams by the same method 36…”

Assessing Adherence to Responsible Reporting of Suicide Guidelines in the Canadian News Media: A 1-year Examination of Day-to-day Suicide Coverage: Évaluer la conformité au journalisme responsable en matière de directives sur le suicide dans les médias canadiens d’information: Un examen d’une année de la couverture quotidienne du suicide

“…1 The determinants of suicide are complex; however, several epidemiological studies indicate a phenomenon known as suicide contagion or “copycat” suicide. This can refer to a general rise in suicide mortality after a high-profile celebrity suicide 2 – 4 or a more localized rise in suicide mortality after a suicide in a discrete social environment (e.g., detention centers). 5 The role of the media in contributing to suicide contagion in the general population has long been a topic of research.…”

“…Of note, much research on media and suicide has focused on celebrity suicides 15 such as the suicide of Robin Williams. 2 – 4 However, these stories only represent a small proportion of articles about suicide that circulate in the media. 9 , 13 , 29 There has been less research on the ordinary day-to-day coverage of suicide by local and national journalists.…”