Somewhere in the world, in the next forty seconds, a person is going to commit suicide. Globally, suicides account for 50 percent of all violent deaths among men and 71 percent for women. Despite suicide prevention programs, therapy, and pharmacological treatments, the suicide rate is either increasing or remaining high around the world. Media and Suicide holds traditional and emergent media accountable for influencing an individual's decision to commit suicide. Global experts present research, historical analysis, theoretical disputes (including discussion on the Werther and Papageno effects), and policy regarding the media's impact on suicide. They answer questions about the effects of different types of media and storytelling, show how the impact of social media can be diminished, discuss internet bullying, mass-shootings and mass-suicides, show the effects of recovery stories, and much more. The editors also present examples of suicide policy in the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Hong Kong on how to best communicate reporting guidelines to decrease the copycat effect, especially in less developed nations where most of the world's nearly one million suicides occur each year. Although there is much work to be done to prevent media-influenced suicide, this innovative volume will contribute a large piece to this complex puzzle.

The portrayal of suicide in cinema can impact public understanding and effective prevention of suicide. This book presents the first-ever comprehensive analysis of how suicide has been portrayed in films over 110 years, based on a thorough evaluation of more than 1,500 film suicides - 1,377 in American films, 135 in British films. One striking finding is that while the research literature generally attributes suicide to individual psychiatric or mental health issues, cinema and film solidly endorse more social causes. In a compelling blend of social science and humanities approaches, the authors use quantitative methods, as well as the voices of scriptwriters, directors, actors, and actresses, dozens of illustrative frame-grabs, and numerous case examples to answer core questions such as: Are we guilty of over-neglecting social factors in suicide prevention and research? Do cinematic portrayals distort or accurately reflect the nature of suicide in the real world? Has film presentation of suicide changed over 110 years? What are the literary roots of cinema portrayals?This unique book makes fascinating reading for all concerned with suicide prevention, as well as areas such as sociology, film and media studies, and mass communication.