Therefore,
Fiction works | exposure suicide:
The exposure to a representation of suicide in a fictional work is associated with a significant increase in the dead by suicide. However, suicide attempts, concludes the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) in a recent report. In addition,
Posted at 10:52 a.m.
The phenomenon of suicidal contagion is well documented in journalistic practices. Meanwhile, but a little less in works of fiction. Nevertheless, At the request of the Ministry of Health. Similarly, as part of fiction works | exposure suicide its national suicide prevention strategy 2022-2026, the Inspq analyzed this link in a summary of knowledge which brings together 65 studies. Meanwhile,
The objective was to identify the influence of suicide representations in fictional works on suicidal behavior in young people under 25. Nevertheless, “In recent years. Meanwhile, works of fictionalized by young people have raised concerns about the risk of suicidal contagion that they could represent,” read the report. In addition,
Suicide in Quebec represents approximately a quarter of the dead observed in young people aged 15 to 34. Consequently, with a higher proportion in boys. In addition, among all age groups, adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 have the highest levels of hospitalization for attempted suicide. Nevertheless,
We speak of suicidal contagion when people identify with people who have suicidal fiction works | exposure suicide behavior by reproducing these behaviors. Similarly, Yan Ferguson. Nevertheless, co-author of the publication of the Inspq, remembers that there have already been many deaths by suicide on the Jacques-Cartier bridge, in Montreal, influenced by the means and places which were reported in the media. Nevertheless, Since then, guides of journalistic practices have been developed. For example,
To popularize the suicidal contagion. In addition, Hugo Fournier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Quebec Suicide Prevention Association (AQPS), talks about the suicide of journalist Gaétan Girouard in the 1990s. However, At that time. he was working in a suicide prevention center and remembers having been overwhelmed in the hours that followed the news.
The media had exhibited the means used by Mr. Girouard. In the weeks that followed. there was a significant increase in suicide attempts with the same fiction works | exposure suicide method in the Quebec region, Sainte-Foy-Sillery, says Mr. Fournier “that’s why today, we no longer really talk about the means,” he explains.
More recently, the television series 13 Reasons Whyreleased in 2017, caused an uproar to suicide prevention experts. “There were characteristics really specific to the series that were problematic. in particular the accent on the means used or how to represent the request for help,” explains Mr. Ferguson.
The CEO of the AQPS also mentions this controversial series. “In a work. be it a novel, a play, a series or a film, when suicide is presented in a dramatic, detailed or romantic way, it can really have an identification effect in the vulnerable spectator. It was clearly observed scientifically with the series 13 Reasons Why. »
“There are several research articles that fiction works | exposure suicide have looked into this series. and scientific ties have been established between the increase in the number of suicides and care in hospitals for suicide attempted the series,” explains Mr. Fournier.
The way in which the suicidal contagion settles in works of fiction is not yet fully understood, specifies Mr. Ferguson. “When there is a person who is estimated, an idol, our parents even, we develop certain behaviors by imitation. In the context of fictional works. identification with the character is the mechanism which is most often postulated as being used to explain the suicidal contagion, ”he explains.
Fiction works | exposure suicide
Avoid romanticizing suicide
Creators. such as filmmakers, directors or writers, have a role to play in representing suicide in their work. “If the television show badly presents suicide. a person who fiction works | exposure suicide is in a situation of suffering and despair could at that time project himself into what is fictitiously experienced and that could help bring him to make a suicide attempt,” said Fournier.
Moreover, the AQPS created in 2024 a guide for fictional authors in order to equip them on good practices. “If it is romanticized. there is a person who is in pain of love and who sees that the character makes a suicide attempt, that it is the only solution to his suffering – we know that suicide is not a solution – well the person can take action,” says Fournier. Another negative effect is the normalization of suicide. For example, if suicide is presented as an understandable or inevitable response to suffering. »»
The AQPS guide will in particular lead the creators to question themselves according fiction works | exposure suicide to their medium. In the theater. on the screen, they can for example wonder if musical choice or lighting glorifies or romance suicide.
We also know that the messages that inform about existing aid resources at the end of an article. a film, or the traumas-advertising at the start, are effective. “It’s the job. Is it enough? The answer is no, ”says Mr. Fournier. explaining that both good practices are needed on the part of the authors and a message with the available resources.
There are still positive effects to deal with suicide in fiction works, wishes to share Mr. Fournier. He believes that suicide is still a taboo in society. and that representation on the screen or in any work is used to open dialogue and to legitimize suffering.
“It helps fiction works | exposure suicide to increase empathy and understanding of those around them, and it reduces stigmatization. Because somewhere, it is normal at some point in our life to live from distress, suffering, to live hard. It’s just normal, but at the same time, you have to learn to live it well, ”he concludes.
Health coverage of the Canadian press is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.
Fiction works | exposure suicide
Further reading: “On September 10, we block everything!” : What is this new movement that is gaining momentum on social networks? – Pernod-Ricard would plan to dismiss 140 positions from its Parisian headquarters – Eight dead after a shooting in front of a nightclub – Agreement found for a departure from Rongier and Merlin in Rennes – Antarctica increasingly impacted by tourism.
