Suicide Contagion Research Paper

Suicide, Contagion and Media Effects

PSYC 4325: Abnormal Psychology Abstract

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death within the United States. It is the only act where a living creature will purposely end its own life. This paper will look at the primary causes of copycat suicides and risk factors that make an individual more susceptible to emulating a suicide. We will discuss suicide as a whole, taking a glance at the different general types of suicides, with a focus on suicide contagion and media influences, and delve into reasoning behind them. As well as go over current methods in research, treatments and contagion prevention guidelines. Suicide, the premeditated death; a self-imposed fatality. A self-prescribed conscious

Death seekers are what most people imagine when they think of a suicide. These are people that intentionally seek out death at the time of suicide.(Comer, 2013,p.288). These are the people so adamant about ending their lives that they choose a suicidal method that will almost guarantee it. They are the ones that will pull the trigger while holding a gun against their head, the ones that hang themselves, or jump off a building. The death initiators, like the death seeker, also clearly want to end their lives, but only on the belief that their lives are going to end relatively soon anyways. (Comer, 2013, p.288) These types of suicides are most common in the elderly and in the terminally or exceedingly ill. They would prefer to end their lives quickly and early rather than suffer humiliation and pain. The death ignorers wish to end their lives as well, but they do not believe that their deaths necessarily mean an end to their life. (Comer, 2013, p.288) They usually believe that ending their current lives will open up a whole other realm of existence. Many child suicides fall under this category, Comer (2013) gave the example of a grieving 7 year old child, Demaine, who's mother had recently passed away, who ultimately kills himself to meet up with his mother in heaven.(p.288) Death ignorers are fairly common in certain cults and those who strongly believe in an after-life that offers an alternate existence. The fourth type, the death darers, have "mixed feelings, or ambivalence in their intent to die..." they often pick methods of suicide that may not guarantee a death; Comer (2013) used the example of someone playing Russian roulette to describe a death darer, as living or dying is of no consequence to