A link has been found between “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix and suicidal thoughts

There has been a great deal of interest in the Netflix show “13 Reasons Why”. Researchers say there appears to be an association between watching this show and having suicidal thoughts.

“13 Reasons Why” has become very popular among teens. This story shares the mental torment which leads to the suicide of a teen girl as this is experienced by a friend listening to cassette entries in a journal which the deceased girl left behind.

There has been a great deal of controversy about this show. Some critics think it has done a good job sharing realistic content. Other critics think this show has shared an idealized concept of suicide which some viewers might decide to emulate.

Associate research professor John W. Ayers with San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health says he found that questions about suicide and regarding how to actually commit suicide spiked just after this show aired. He made these observations from an internet search history of data on Google Trends.

The researchers found that all suicide associated questions were 19 percent higher than they were expected to be after the show. Study co-author Mark Dredze, who is a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, has commented that it is difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the effects of the release of “13 Reasons Why.” As a matter of fact in the 19 days after the release of the series there were between 900,000 and 1.5 million more suicide associated searches than expected.

Ayers has said that it is not clear if any of those searches actually directly led to suicides. However in previous research it has been found that there has been a correlation between increases in internet searches for suicide and actual suicides. He is concerned that many people may have acted on their suicidal thoughts by searching for information on how to commit suicide.

The research team says that some of the harm which was potentially associated with the release of the series could have been prevented by following media standards which presently exist. Study co-author Jon-Patrick Allem, who is a research scientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, says that the World Health Organization has developed guidelines intended for media makers aimed at preventing this type of problem.

Allem says that it is critical that media makers follow these recommended guidelines. These guidelines discourage media content which focuses on suicide or the act of suicide. In “13 Reasons Why” 13 hours focused on a suicide victim, and the suicide was shown in frightening detail.

A research letter dealing with this study has been published by The JAMA Network. Although it seems that the popular show “13 Reasons Why” increased awareness of suicide, there have nevertheless been concerns that suicidal ideation also increased. It has been suggested that the negative effects of shows such as this could possibly be lowered by adhering to the World Health Organization’s media guidelines which are aimed at preventing suicide.