Celebrity suicide may trigger a “contagion response” that could lead to thousands of people considering suicide, a new study warns.
Researchers analyzed the “rapid and extensive spread” of suicidal behavior linked to the deaths of three iconic individuals, including actor Robin Williams, fashion designer Kate Spade and travel journalist Anthony Bourdain.
They found that the number of people fantasizing about suicide increased a thousandfold after Williams’ death in 2014, showing how quickly the contagion spreads.
The team said they hope their findings provide a framework for understanding suicide contagion so we can better understand, prevent and control its spread in the future.
Robin Williams (left) committed suicide by hanging in 2014, leading to an increase in the number of Americans committing suicide in the same manner, and Kate Spade (right) committed suicide by hanging in 2018.
Researchers from Columbia University reported that there is no single factor that causes suicide or suicidal thoughts, but that some factors are attributed to social or infectious processes.
The team’s research has found that people’s proximity or familiarity with other people who have considered, attempted or committed suicide contributes to their own suicidal thoughts or actions.
They focused on the spike in suicide rates following Williams’ death and the subsequent deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, both of whom died within days of each other in 2018.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, analyzed data on the total number of weekly calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a 24-hour call center. The results were used to estimate how many people had suicidal thoughts and to estimate mortality rates recorded in the National Vital Statistics System.
“The model we developed shows how the contagion of suicide, including suicidal ideation and death, spreads rapidly after celebrities commit suicide, whose lives and work are well-known and likely meaningful to a large part of the population,” he added.
Suicide is now the ninth leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 64 and was responsible for more than 48,000 deaths in 2021, about one death every 11 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Jeffrey Shaman, co-author of the study and a professor at Columbia University, said there was a significant increase in calls to the Lifeline after the deaths of all three celebrities, but that Williams’ suicide appeared to have a greater impact.
“The 2018 case is similar, although the magnitude of the suicide contagion rate after the news of Spade and Bourdain’s suicides was about half,” Shaman said.
‘For the two celebrity suicides, the number of additional suicides was approximately double after the Williams incident in 2014. This may reflect differences in communication and media attention after both events and the extent to which the public felt connected to the deceased.’
Williams was a beloved actor known for his roles in the critically acclaimed films Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and Good Will Hunting (1997), among many others.
He was only 63 years old when he committed suicide by hanging, and his death shocked the world with data showing a 32 percent increase in the number of people taking their own lives using the same method, according to a 2018 study by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
“While we cannot say with certainty that these deaths were attributable to the death of Robin Williams, we did see a rapid increase in suicides in August 2014, particularly suicides by asphyxiation, that was consistent with the time and manner of Williams’ death,” study co-author David Fink said at the time.
Anthony Bourdain was a travel journalist who committed suicide by hanging just days after Kate Spade in June 2018
The researchers now say their latest findings align with the 2018 study, which found that the US suicide rate rose 37 percent between 2000 and 2018, but fell five percent between 2018 and 2020 before peaking again in 2021.
Spade and Bourdain died within three days of each other in June 2018 — both by hanging — drawing attention to the rising number of suicides in the US.
“In both the 2014 and 2018 simulations, the increased infection rates lasted about two weeks before returning to baseline,” Shaman said.
Suicide is now the ninth leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 64 and was responsible for more than 48,000 deaths in 2021, which equates to about one death every 11 minutes, the center for disease control and prevention (CDC).
Professor Katherine Keyes, co-author of the study, said the ultimate goal for the future is ‘to work towards a point where a suicide contagion model can lead to a rapid response aimed at preventing suicide.’
