Dangerous words

摘要

When US actor Robin Williams took his own life, a flood of media coverage followed. Some of it has been criticised for glamorising his suicide in a way that might prompt vulnerable readers to follow suit. Are the critics right? Research stretching back decades suggests that such fears are well founded. Empirical work on the possible role of the media on copycat or imitative suicide began with a seminal article by David Phillips of the University of California, San Diego, in 1974. He checked the impact of 34 widely publicised suicides that were reported on the front page of The New York Times.