- A young woman slashes her wrists. A prisoner hangs herself
in a cell. A man swallows scores of paracetamol tablets in a desperate
bid to end his life.
-
- The three haunting scenes all feature in television story
lines which have provoked alarm from mental health charities who fear the
media are becoming increasingly irresponsible in their treatment of suicide
and self-harm.
-
- Suicide awareness groups have highlighted several recent
television dramas that have given cause for concern. These include Footballers'
Wives and an episode of the prison drama Bad Girls, both of which showed
one of the main characters hanging herself. Samaritans points out that
prisoners are seven times more likely to take their lives than the average
person.
-
- Many production companies now consult mental health experts
when writing suicide story lines into scripts. EastEnders, for example,
will soon feature a suicide. The show's writers worked with mental health
groups to ensure the scenes were not gratuitous and did not provide a graphic
description of the method. Hollyoaks, William and Mary and the Inspector
Lynley series have also sought advice from experts.
-
- But not all producers are so sensitive, according to
suicide experts. 'Over the past few years, we've become aware of quite
a few instances of suicide being portrayed in a way that isn't entirely
appropriate,' said Sarah Nelson, media manager for Samaritans.
-
- The debate over the way the small screen treats suicide
will be reignited later this month when the latest Britney Spears video,
in which the singer's wrists are accidentally slashed and she then drowns
in a bath, is aired on UK television.
-
- The singer denies the scene could be mistaken for suicide
but experts say it is 'almost inevitable' that the video will spark a wave
of copycat attempts. In the month after Marilyn Monroe killed herself,
for example, the suicide rate in the US went up by 12 per cent.
-
- 'It would be almost surprising if there wasn't a rise
in suicide attempts after the Britney Spears video is aired,' said Greg
Philo, professor of communications at Glasgow University.
-
- Philo was part of a team that monitored suicide attempts
following an episode of Casualty which showed a character swallowing more
than 50 paracetamol tablets.
-
- The episode, watched by 12.8 million viewers, prompted
a 17 per cent rise in hospital admissions for paracetamol poisoning the
week after it was shown and nine per cent the week after that.
-
- The episode raised awareness that paracetamol could kill
if taken in large enough doses. 'We asked people who had seen the programme
what they thought about it and the main point that came across was a new
awareness that if you are thinking of killing yourself paracetamols "could
do the trick",' Philo said.
-
- The study's findings appear to be corroborated by events
in Germany where a television series, Death of a Student, depicted the
suicide of a young man who walked in front of a train. Studies showed that,
during the series, the number of young men killing themselves by similar
means rose 175 per cent. Suicide by other means did not decrease, suggesting
the series was responsible for a real increase in attempts, rather than
influencing the choice of method.
-
- The controversial video for Spears's new single, 'Everytime',
has already been reworked once. An earlier edit, which showed the singer
killing herself with an overdose, was banned by record bosses who feared
a backlash from conservative groups.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1194410,00.html
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