OTHER than crime, disasters, and politics, stories about suicide is one of those that hug the headlines.

Often the reports center on how the suicide was done and the motive behind the act.

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But the manner by which media reports suicide cases deserve a second look.

Often, media reports about “successful” cases of suicide, yet fall short in reporting effects of suicide to the person affected, his family, and his community.

Aside from the psychological effect, Dr. Gilda Wong, head of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) Psychiatric Department, said suicides have a multiplier effect in the society.

She said suicide reports may gain sympathy as one reaction, but on the other hand, repetitive reporting of an incident especially those committed by someone known in society is imitated.

“Unknowingly, suicide influences some to also commit suicide sometimes in the same manner done by the subject,” she told Sun.Star, adding it should also be explained that suicide is merely a symptom of an illness. 

How the family copes with loss is also not reported, Wong said. “Maybe (the) media should gauge if reporting suicide stories can help.”

The physical deformities resulting from an unsuccessful attempt is also not reported. Wong said those who take in chemicals to end their life sustain permanent injuries usually on internal organs, which add more to the suffering of someone who is already depressed.

Depression is ranked second in terms of mortality by the World Health Organization (WHO).

As the WHO observed, some forms of media coverage of suicides are associated with significant excess of suicide. “The impact appears to be strongest among young people.”

“Majority of suicides are not reported in media. When the public is informed about a suicide, it usually involves a particular person, method, or place,” the WHO said in the manual for reporting suicide cases.

It also recognizes suicides are newsworthy. However, news, which are shown, dwell on the atypical, but which perpetuates misinformation about suicide.

“Certain types of coverage may help prevent imitation of the behavior, but there is always the possibility that publicity about suicide seem ‘normal.’ Repeated and continual coverage of suicide tends to induce and promote suicidal preoccupations, particularly among adolescents and young adults.”

The WHO suggested that in the coverage of suicide cases, statistics should be carefully and correctly interpreted, reliable sources should be consulted, and impromptu comments should be handled carefully in spite of time pressures.

Sensational coverage should also be avoided, particularly when a celebrity is involved, detailed description of how the suicide was done should be avoided. Suicide should not be reported in a simplistic way for suicide is never the result of a single factor or event. It should not be depicted as a method of coping with personal problems, and victims should never be glorified as martyrs and objects of adulation.