Celebrities’ suicides stoke concerns of ‘Werther effect’

The fear is simple: reporting suicide would inspire more.

David P.Phillips, in a couple of widely cited empirical papers, “Suicide, Motor Vehicle Fatalities, and the Mass Media: Evidence Toward a Theory of Suggestion” (American Journal of Sociology, 1979 ) & “The Influence of Suggestion on Suicide; Substantive and & Theoretical Implications of the Werther Effect” (American Sociological Review, 1974) had suggested that widely publicized suicides in mass media lead to a subsequent rise of suicides.

Classical sociologists such as Tarde believed ‘imitation’ and ‘suggestion’ play a crucial role in impacting social behaviour - in his work, Phillips builds on the same premise with empirical evidence and concludes that in the aftermath of such widely publicized suicide stories more number of suicides occur within the nation and the impact is more pronounced in locations or geographies and among similar age groups where such suicides have taken place. The people working in similar professions, belonging to a similar age group and geography are likely to be affected by the “process of imitation, suggestion and modelling” (Phillips), thereby, replicating the behaviour ultimately leading to their deaths.

The impact of such publicized front-page suicide stories is further amplified in the case of anomic individuals. As suggested by Phillips, for anomic individuals, death by suicide and joining a social movement are probable pathways to get rid of the state that they believe they are in. A spate of recent suicides related to personalities from the Indian film/TV industry raise crucial questions.

TV actress Preksha Mehta hanged herself on May 26, actor Sushant Singh Rajput allegedly took a similar move a few weeks apart, and so did Bhojpuri movie and film actress Anupama Pathak in August, while Sameer Sharma also died by suicide in the same month. What is worth noting is that these actors were between 34 and 45 years of age, besides the similarities in their profession and the way they ended their lives.

The explanations suggested by Phillips could be playing out here in a significant manner. With ‘suggestive influences’ of the Prime Time, print media and the omnipresent web, the anomic individuals are (and not necessarily restricted to the TV/film industry) likely to face an uphill battle. The precarious social situation, with COVID showing no signs of abating, is likely to restrict the possibility of social interactions. Such interactions that are normally precursors to joining a social movement, and which could have offered an exit pathway for such individuals are practically rendered impossible.

All is not lost, though. So, what are the options to dissuade suicide attempts?

Just as widely publicized suicides may abet similar deaths, widely publicized stories of social movements may reduce the number of suicides especially if the famous personality was the subject in the suicide or the social movement. Keeping in mind the ubiquitous nature of the web and the role of social media in today’s age and time, all of us can play a proactive role in propagating such stories of a social movement.

Indeed, we may want to enable such social movements by leveraging the virtual media. Would it help if media houses showed a tad restraint and refrained from reporting anything based on assumptions or rumours? A balance can be achieved while respecting the privacy of the families. Lest we run the risk of being a “bystander” (Bystander Intervention in Emergencies; Diffused Responsibility, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology (1968), John Darky & Bibb Latane).