The Suicide Contagion

In May of this year CBC News produced a story accenting the need for new approaches to defuse suicide among teenagers.  The authors of an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggested that it was necessary for crisis-intervention teams to be more aware of how young people respond to suicide in their circle of acquaintances.

The authors suggested that teens who know of schoolmates who have been successful at taking their own lives are more likely to consider it or attempt suicide themselves.  The authors named that phenomenon “suicide contagion”.

Statistics Canada figures from 2009 indicate a suicide rate at 11.5 in every 100,000 people.  The rate is lower for people aged 10-14 at 1.3 in every 100,000 and rises to 9 in every 100,000 people for those between 15-19 years of age.  The “contagion study” done by Dr. Ian Colman of the University of Ottawa together with Sonja Swanson from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston used date from 22,064 young people in Canada from the age of 12 to 17.  What they found was that by the age of 16 or 17, 24% of teens had a schoolmate die by suicide and 20% knew someone who had taken their own life.  Virtually one-quarter of all young people in that age category are affected by suicide.

The researchers were surprised at how strong the “suicide contagion” effect was on especially the younger adolescents.  The study showed that 12-13 year olds who had experienced a suicide in their schools were five times more likely to contemplate suicide themselves.  Amy Cheng, an adolescent psychiatrist and researcher at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health in Toronto says that suicides in schools and communities tend to happen in clusters, largely because of copycat acts.

Cheng says that a young person who is already at risk of self-harm; such as someone being generally bullied or an outcast amongst their peers, might perceive suicide as socially desirable.  Even though the untimely death may be initially devastating, what typically occurs is that the community speaks positively of the person’s characteristics which in turn can lead to the at-risk young person thinking that if they should die, they’d at least be spoken of positively after their death.

Cheng suggests that even though many schools now have crisis intervention teams, more needs to be done.  She suggests that linking schools to medical professionals will help those who are at risk of suicide find the proper treatment.

Dr. Coleman acknowledges the sensitivity surrounding the issue of suicide but says it is imperative that the conversation continue.  He suggests that a culture needs to be created within all aspects of our communities where it will be comfortable for people to talk about mental health and especially comfortable for children to seek help.

The full story by CBC can be read HERE