Stupid Liberals!
2016-02-18 02:27:06 UTC
Ten teens have committed suicide in the affluent community of
Palo Alto since 2009, prompting the CDC to investigate the role
of media in the crisis. The results of the investigation could
inform best practices for media organizations covering suicide.
Mental health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention will investigate the town of Palo Alto, Calif., after
a series of teenage suicides.
Palo Alto, the affluent hometown of Stanford University, first
witnessed a suicide cluster between 2009 and 2010 when six teens
killed themselves, and four more committed suicide between Oct.
2014 and March 2015. The CDC has launched an investigation into
the role media coverage of the deaths may have played in
influencing of other students' decisions to take their own
lives. The results of the investigation could inform best
practices for media organizations covering suicide.
Under the CDCs definition, a suicide cluster is a group of
suicides or suicide attempts, or both, that occur closer
together in time and space than would normally be expected in a
given community. Suicide is the second leading cause of death
for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24, but the agency
estimated that such clusters only account for one to five
percent of these deaths.
Nevertheless, a great deal of anecdotal evidence suggests that,
in a given suicide cluster, suicides occurring later in the
cluster often appear to have been influenced by suicides
occurring earlier in the cluster, the CDC explains.
And in almost all cases, a proliferation of negative media is
present, the CDC goes on to explain.
Ecological evidence also suggests that exposure of the general
population to suicide through television may increase the risk
of suicide for certain susceptible individuals, says the CDC.
Madelyn Gould, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, says young
adults are much more vulnerable to being influenced by somebody
elses suicide, especially after it is repeatedly broadcast
across social media networks and news outlets.
But mental health professionals and educators have found that
students are also vulnerable to their peers positive support.
But the stories of lives saved often dont make headlines and
prevention experts are encouraged about progress in that
direction, The Christian Science Monitors Stacy Khadaroo
reported in 2013. A clearer picture of how suicide contagion
can happen is emerging and prompting stronger efforts to guard
against it.
The prevalence of television and the Internet can broadcast the
details of suicide cases among teens, but it also can help
spread prevention resources.
After the Palo Alto first suicide, a lot of media came in and
were investigating and said Why are these kids killing
themselves? Shawna Chen, 18, told ABC News. It was being
prodded apart, like a wound.
School officials and parents have struggled with how to
adequately honor the victims without turning the students into
martyrs, because "one key to heading off copycats was not
romanticizing the death," The Atlantic explains. But Professor
Gould says she is "extremely impressed," with the Palo Alto
community's response, honoring the late students by focusing on
solutions instead of memorializing the past.
To combat the negative narrative pervading the students lives,
Ms. Chen started a section for the paper this year titled
Changing the Narrative, where students can share essays about
their own anxieties and fears.
And this positive contradiction of fear-mongering news can
really help students, Gould tells ABC.
We have research that shows stories about resilience and coping
and dealing with suicidal thoughts in ways that are engaging ...
they are not only inspiring, they can prevent somebody elses
suicide attempt.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0217/Teen-suicide-
clusters-in-Palo-Alto-Is-media-attention-to-blame
Palo Alto since 2009, prompting the CDC to investigate the role
of media in the crisis. The results of the investigation could
inform best practices for media organizations covering suicide.
Mental health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention will investigate the town of Palo Alto, Calif., after
a series of teenage suicides.
Palo Alto, the affluent hometown of Stanford University, first
witnessed a suicide cluster between 2009 and 2010 when six teens
killed themselves, and four more committed suicide between Oct.
2014 and March 2015. The CDC has launched an investigation into
the role media coverage of the deaths may have played in
influencing of other students' decisions to take their own
lives. The results of the investigation could inform best
practices for media organizations covering suicide.
Under the CDCs definition, a suicide cluster is a group of
suicides or suicide attempts, or both, that occur closer
together in time and space than would normally be expected in a
given community. Suicide is the second leading cause of death
for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24, but the agency
estimated that such clusters only account for one to five
percent of these deaths.
Nevertheless, a great deal of anecdotal evidence suggests that,
in a given suicide cluster, suicides occurring later in the
cluster often appear to have been influenced by suicides
occurring earlier in the cluster, the CDC explains.
And in almost all cases, a proliferation of negative media is
present, the CDC goes on to explain.
Ecological evidence also suggests that exposure of the general
population to suicide through television may increase the risk
of suicide for certain susceptible individuals, says the CDC.
Madelyn Gould, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, says young
adults are much more vulnerable to being influenced by somebody
elses suicide, especially after it is repeatedly broadcast
across social media networks and news outlets.
But mental health professionals and educators have found that
students are also vulnerable to their peers positive support.
But the stories of lives saved often dont make headlines and
prevention experts are encouraged about progress in that
direction, The Christian Science Monitors Stacy Khadaroo
reported in 2013. A clearer picture of how suicide contagion
can happen is emerging and prompting stronger efforts to guard
against it.
The prevalence of television and the Internet can broadcast the
details of suicide cases among teens, but it also can help
spread prevention resources.
After the Palo Alto first suicide, a lot of media came in and
were investigating and said Why are these kids killing
themselves? Shawna Chen, 18, told ABC News. It was being
prodded apart, like a wound.
School officials and parents have struggled with how to
adequately honor the victims without turning the students into
martyrs, because "one key to heading off copycats was not
romanticizing the death," The Atlantic explains. But Professor
Gould says she is "extremely impressed," with the Palo Alto
community's response, honoring the late students by focusing on
solutions instead of memorializing the past.
To combat the negative narrative pervading the students lives,
Ms. Chen started a section for the paper this year titled
Changing the Narrative, where students can share essays about
their own anxieties and fears.
And this positive contradiction of fear-mongering news can
really help students, Gould tells ABC.
We have research that shows stories about resilience and coping
and dealing with suicidal thoughts in ways that are engaging ...
they are not only inspiring, they can prevent somebody elses
suicide attempt.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0217/Teen-suicide-
clusters-in-Palo-Alto-Is-media-attention-to-blame