Study examines suicides publicized on social media and teens' ER visits

https://goo.gl/0i83CZ

The research looked at the role that adolescents' increasing use of social media use might play in ER visits for suicidal behavior. In his study, Naveen Poonai, MD, MSc, examined the widespread media reports about the suicide death of 15-year-old Amanda Todd and whether there was a resulting effect on suicide-related visits by youths to Ontario's emergency departments. Amanda Todd committed suicide on Oct.10, 2012, after years of cyberbullying that she described in a YouTube video that went viral after her death.

Using 2002-2013 data from Canada's National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, researchers used an interrupted time?series analysis to examine monthly rates of emergency department visits related to suicidal behavior such as intentional self-poisoning before and after Todd's suicide. They found a no significant change in ER visits for suicidal behavior after her death. Importantly however, the authors found a significant increase in ER visits in teenagers for suicidal behavior that begin in June 2011. No such increase was found among the younger children studied.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults in Canada and the United States.