Registered Psychologist talked about the recent suicide of KPop Star Sulli and Goo Hara and its implication on the mental health of their fandom.
Does celebrity suicide increase subsequent suicide rates?
Yes, there is a tendency for the vulnerable population to imitate suicide of celebrities. Hence, it's important to discuss suicide from the context of PREVENTION -- how one can cope with stress and depression.
The influence of celebrity suicide was shown to reach its peak following the suicide death of a renowned actress in 2008.(Park, et al, 2016). According to Fink et al,(2018), there is an increase in suicide cases (9.85%) 4 months after Robin Williams committed suicide. Recent meta-analysis suggests that, on average, suicides increase by approximately 0.26 per 100,000 population in the weeks following a high profile celebrity suicide (Niederkrotenthaler T, Fu, 2012)
Celebrity suicide effects have led the World Health Organization to the establishment of media guidelines for reporting a high profile celebrity death, including sensitivity and non-sensationalism in the reporting of the means of suicide, the precipitating factors, and the risk factors for suicide apparent in the deceased.(WHO, 2017)
REFERENCES:
Fink, D. S., Santaella-Tenorio, J., & Keyes, K. M. (2018). Increase in suicides the months after the death of Robin Williams in the US. PloS one, 13(2), e0191405. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0191405
Niederkrotenthaler T, Fu KW, Yip PS, Fong DY, Stack S, Cheng Q, et al. Changes in suicide rates following media reports on celebrity suicide: a meta-analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2012;66(11):1037–42
Park, J., Choi, N., Kim, S. J., Kim, S., An, H., Lee, H. J., & Lee, Y. J. (2016). The Impact of Celebrity Suicide on Subsequent Suicide Rates in the General Population of Korea from 1990 to 2010. Journal of Korean medical science, 31(4), 598–603. doi:10.3346/jkms.2016.31.4.598
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