Aspects that press journalists and commentators on social networks should take into account when mentioning and analyzing suicide

By Andrés Núñez Leites

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Holding Hands Stock photos by Vecteezy

Suicide is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, which can also be addressed from various disciplines. Beyond the pedantry and professional zeal of some technicians, in reality the complexity of the matter makes it a problem that is difficult to prevent and address institutionally, community and/or therapeutically. This does not mean that we do not know anything about suicide: sociology provides statistical guidelines that allow us to illuminate a vulnerable population margin, anthropology and philosophy can approach the meaning of the act from various methodologies, in the same way as from other frameworks. . Theoretical psychology can do so, and biological psychiatry can also establish some common physiological patterns of those prone to suicide, all of which there is abundant bibliography available to the reader. But still, there is a dimension of suicide that is personal, intimate, individual. Regardless of whether we even conceive the subject as a subject subject to power relations, or whether we can use systemic theoretical models affirmed in biology or psychoanalysis, there is a final instance, within the population most vulnerable to suicide, which is the individual decision. . Paradoxically, this individual decision is in itself problematic, because it is legitimately questionable what margins of freedom of thought and degrees of awareness of their actions have, for example, people who are suffering from severe depression or have experienced a recent or distant traumatic episode. . over time that they fail to integrate psychologically (typical predictors of suicide attempts). Generally, although suicidal ideation may remain in the mind of someone who attempts and/or manages to take their own life for some time, the act of self-elimination occurs in the midst of a specific crisis of psychological decompensation, an imbalance regarding a problem versus the which the exit is not perceived. The majority of people who have survived suicide attempts state that they actually wanted to change - and did not know how - their life situation, instead of stopping living; Most of them say they have already felt regret and vital desire even moments after having triggered the material mechanisms to eliminate themselves. We have to help you find exits. Timely therapeutic intervention can save most people who approach this distressing situation.

Suicide is also an act of communication, and in that individual decision - with the limitations that we just outlined - the symbolic means socially available to transmit a message converge. That is to say: whoever takes his own life not only seeks to end his suffering but also to say something, and even without meaning to he says it, because his actions are signs that can be interpreted in his cultural context. That saying something implies some options that I can handle with a greater or lesser degree of awareness. with what elements he must take his life, what appearance his body will leave, its location, the timing of the event, the effects on those affected (who will find it, what emotions it will awaken in them, etc.). Even if we raise, as was done in Uruguay for decades, a wall of silence around suicide, those social meanings will be available there, and will be reproduced in everyday stories, in the silences, in the tears, in the memory of those close to them. the suicides

Now, just as language is a relatively autonomous system, in the same way as the market, we can say that there is a certain degree of influence of individual, personal decisions, in the way in which one or another visions about suicide are promoted from the mass media. That is to say: although they are subject to the logic of the market, which leads them to promote the sale of information-merchandise desirable by spectators-consumers, and the current sign that predominates in said merchandise in Uruguay -judging by the most successful programs in "rating" - is that of the "moderate sensationalism" typical of Uruguayan villageism: promoting a biased, not complex vision of an issue, but claiming equanimity and moderation. It is also true that, without asking for anything, to the extent that it promotes a purely technical analysis or without appealing to the emotional, it could mean a loss of profitability of the information-merchandise, it is possible that the information is managed from a series of decisions that come from an informed ethical analysis, which take into account, more than anything, the possible contagion effects, as well as the spread of potentially suicidal feelings.

Without pretending to single out programs and channels for the dissemination of news and reports, nor commentators in social networks, we will say that we have seen, especially on Uruguayan television, programs that, while maximizing empathy between the public-affected and public-suicides, promoted the emotional response of the television audience, with which it was to be expected that the "rating" that justifies the commercial support of said programs is maintained or increased.

In general, the following errors are made in terms of the potential contagion effect:

- Use of the phenomenon of suicide as a great headline capable of attracting an audience. Although it is legitimate for, for example, a journalistic program to anticipate its contents as a form of advertising, sensationalism has a negative effect, to the extent that it generates a perception of an "epidemic" or massive phenomenon such as fatality. And even though the above has a degree of statistical reality and in terms of public perception of the phenomenon, it would be more convenient for the advancement of the program to give preponderance to therapeutic, institutional and community prevention factors.

- Idealization of the suicidal. Those who have taken their own lives usually appear as morally admirable people who, living in desperate situations, would have had the courage to cross the line of death. What is the message for people who are dealing with the possibility of taking their own life?: Suicide leaves an indelible mark and a valuable social image. This does not mean, by any means, that the specific cases of people we are talking about do not correspond to individuals with high moral value, but it does mean that people who are going through a process of suicidal ideation are offered hope for very positive construction of his post-mortem memory, beyond the moral complexity that the biography of each particular individual usually has.

- Excessive reproduction of the stories of those affected. The immediate family and friends of suicides express at length their anguish and pain. It is an inevitable fact: except in rare cases, suicide leaves an indelible emotional mark, a mark of pain and guilt for not having perceived, in those who eliminated themselves, the signs of depression and anguish in time, or for not having given them what they wanted. needed to maintain meaning, hope and vital desire. Precisely, one of the most recurrent elements in the stories of those who have attempted suicide is the "rescue fantasy": at the last moment the saving hand must arrive, suddenly becoming aware of the value of life that is fading , will then provide the emotional and/or material means so that it can be carried out in a full or at least more acceptable way. Both this fantasy and the desire to leave a memory of pain and guilt possibly speak of the same need for help on the part of someone trying to take their own life. The excessive promotion of the stories of those affected fuels the decision to commit suicide, which instead of being perceived as a non-solution, to the extent that the cessation of life prevents other paths that include overcoming material and psychological problems, It is perceived as an acceptable solution either to receive last-minute help or to leave a positive and painful memory at the same time. It must also be taken into account that those affected have, due to the fact of having experienced the suicide of a loved one, a greater possibility of response than other sectors of the population: a public exhibition of their pain, a remembrance of the story of the The loss of the life of a loved one has the potential for emotional and psychological imbalance in general for them.

- Almost obscene exposure of the methods and places of suicide. For example, close-up shots of the waters of a huge hydroelectric dam capable of engulfing a human being in seconds should appear in an anthology of what should not be done when reporting on this topic. And something like this was seen on a popular television program in Uruguay a few years ago. On the one hand, it implies, for people with depression and/or suicidal ideation, the reaffirmation of the convenience or not of using one method or another (in terms of effectiveness, duration of agony, effects on the body, time before the discovery of the lifeless body, etc.) and on the other hand generates or reaffirms the existence of ideal places for suicide, both in terms of material and symbolic effectiveness.

TV programs and videos on social networks also tend to have, interspersed with the aforementioned errors, aspects favorable to reducing the number of suicides:

- Rehearse a psychological interpretation of the problem as something that can be addressed therapeutically. Allude to the widespread hypothesis of depression and acute and momentary crises as a psychological environment for suicide, cite specialists on the subject who provide a therapeutic vision affirming the possibility of successful psychological and psychiatric treatment. Although depression It cannot explain all cases of suicide, there is a high correlation between depression and suicide. This, on the one hand, places suicide as a social problem and codifies it more precisely as a public health problem that families, communities, and institutions must address with some response.

- Fortunately, it has become common to mention where to seek help in case of depression and/or suicidal ideation: this point should be extended much more (ceasing to be a point, the geometric analogy is valid), with more abundant information and with stories of therapeutic success and community containment. Right here lies one of the most important reasons, from the point of view of suicide prevention, to promote its public knowledge and the proactive sensitization of the population and institutions. It is necessary to establish detection and prevention networks that involve all of us and especially the "first line of contact" of the person in crisis: primary care doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, police officers, teachers, social workers, among others.

Journalists should have more prior information regarding two elements: on the one hand, the contagion potential of their reports on suicide - in this regard there are several investigations that have managed to prove, with a good margin of reliability, the existence of said phenomenon - and on the other hand, the existence of materials available on the Internet for consultation, not only on the phenomenon of suicide (from various disciplines), but also specific materials for journalists, on how to report cases. Regarding TV programs and reports on social networks that time and again fall into the errors listed above, we discount the good intentions of the journalists and communicators who carry them out, but it is important that they become aware of the suicidal potential of their actions and the need to reformulate the journalistic treatment of the subject from more solid ethical and technical bases.

Last but not least, I would like to add two views, as a contribution.

One, sociological. I would like to affirm that it is possible to interpret suicide as a phenomenon that challenges us as a society, to the extent that, together with other morbid elements (traffic accidents, cardiovascular and cerebral accidents, addictions, etc.), it can be interpreted as a sign of a post-neoliberal society that, dazzled by the growth of GDP and consumption, permanently generates "collateral damage" especially to those who most have to endure the heat of the game of competition for material and emotional survival: typically young people and old. The family, the stable couple and marriage as institutions in crisis, the labor market as a space of chronic uncertainty, the meaning of life imploded on daily life and the consumption of merchandise (designed to generate dissatisfaction and recurrence of consumption), the Stress due to the acceleration of production and pressure for productivity are some of the dimensions that can be seen in the environment of the phenomenon. In Uruguay we have advanced since the 1990s, when I wrote some notes about, specifically, youth suicide and the political and media will to deny or hide suicide, as a sign of the failure of political economic development programs that ignore its effects. on a personal level: today we talk about it. The point is that talking about the subject cannot be reduced to the marketing effectiveness of journalistic reporting, but rather expanded towards a therapeutic and public health policy perspective.

Another view is the religious/spiritual one. My work as a collaborator in research with psychiatrists, and my own personal experience regarding the therapeutic potential of the religious/spiritual factor in generating community and psychological support for people with depression and/or suicidal ideation, is evident. In the very secular Uruguay, which still has almost 50% of the population that declares itself Christian, there are no known studies on the subject, but in other places in the world there are. The correlation, in an analysis of dozens of investigations carried out in the United States and Europe, between religiosity/spirituality, overcoming depression and the reduction of suicide attempts based on the ability to accept failures, see suffering as an opportunity for growth spirituality, maintaining hope and seeking support, show a positive correlation that is coincidentally around 50% when spirituality is taken into account in the psychological and psychiatric therapeutic process. This is because human beings are not only material but also spiritual beings and religiosity is usually a very solid source for the incorporation of a strong, stable sense of life, capable of resisting the storms that, as well as the periods of satisfaction and happiness, inevitably occur.

Notes:

- Preventing Suicide A Resource for Media Professionals (WHO) http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/resource_media.pdf

- The Science Behind Suicide Contagion http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/upshot/the-science-behind-suicide- contagion.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

- IASP - Resources: Suicide Prevention and Social Media http://www.iasp.info/resources/Suicide_Prevention_and_Social_Media/

- Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/recommendations-for-reporting-on-suicide.shtml

- LUCCHETTI et alt., Spirituality, religiousness, and mental health: A review of the current scientific evidence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8462234/