[Living Backwards] Unprotected Exposure to Sensational Content... Adolescents Vulnerable to the 'Werther Effect'

③Suicide Rate Soars 32.3% in January This Year
Celebrity Suicide Commercialization on SNS
Suicide News Increases Suicide Urges

Adolescents are being exposed without protection to self-harm and suicide content posted online and on social networking services (SNS). In particular, news of celebrity deaths negatively affects depressed youths and can increase the risk of suicide. As the media environment rapidly changes, there are calls for social reflection on suicide reporting and regulation of provocative online content.

[Living Backwards] Unprotected Exposure to Sensational Content... Adolescents Vulnerable to the 'Werther Effect'

Celebrity Imitation Suicides Continue

According to the Korea Suicide Prevention Association on the 24th, the provisional number of suicides in January this year, as compiled by Statistics Korea, was 1,306, a sharp increase of 32.3% compared to the same period last year. Compared to 998 in January 2021, 1,004 in 2022, and 987 in 2023, the rise is notable. Official suicide statistics in South Korea are released in September of the following year, but authorities monitor suicide increases and decreases by utilizing police death data to announce provisional figures every two months. Although there is about a 7% margin of error, the data is considered meaningful for analyzing trends.

The sharp rise in suicide rates in January is mainly attributed to the 'Werther effect' following the death of actor the late Lee Seon-gyun in December last year. The Werther effect refers to a social phenomenon where celebrity suicides psychologically influence others, leading to a series of imitation suicides. Previously, suicide rates surged in January (22.2%), March (35.9%), and July (16.2%) of 2018, coinciding with the deaths of SHINee member Kim Jong-hyun (December 2017), actor Jo Min-ki (March 2018), and Justice Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan (July 2018).

Image of the Suicide-Inducing Information Monitoring Team Jikyeojumin (人). [Image source: Korea Life Respect Hope Foundation website]

Korean media have been criticized for excessively detailed reporting on suicide locations, methods, and funerals. In response, the Korea Journalists Association established the 'Suicide Reporting Guidelines' in 2013 and has continued self-regulation efforts. However, on platforms such as online and SNS where self-regulation is difficult, suicide is still commercialized for sensationalism, stimulating imitation psychology. Since teenagers are very active online, they are unprotectedly exposed to various videos, communities, and websites.

Minimizing Exposure on Internet and TV

Adolescence is a period when individuals lack the ability to control their emotions compared to adults, which can increase suicide risk. A study published in September last year in the journal Journal of Youth Studies, titled ‘Differences in the Effects of Suicide Reporting by Media Type on Suicidal Impulsive Thoughts among Adolescents,’ analyzed surveys of 362 middle and high school students in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The hypothesis that ‘the more frequent the exposure to suicide reports, the higher the suicidal impulsive thoughts among adolescents’ was tested using one-way ANOVA, revealing a significant correlation with internet and TV. This means that exposure to suicide news through these platforms increases suicidal impulses in adolescents.

Another hypothesis, ‘Depressed and impulsive adolescents will have higher suicidal impulsive thoughts when exposed to suicide reports,’ was tested through regression analysis. The results showed that depression, rather than impulsivity or suicide reporting, was a more critical risk factor. However, it also suggests that combined with personal depression, momentary suicidal impulses could trigger suicide at any time.

Furthermore, when examining the relationship between self-esteem and media suicide reporting, it was found that lower exposure to suicide news reduces suicidal impulsive thoughts, but self-esteem does not moderate this effect. Self-esteem refers to how much one values oneself, but in a provocative environment flooded with suicide reports, it appears unable to function as a protective mechanism. This implies that adolescents may not be able to suppress suicidal impulses by willpower alone.

Ultimately, regulating online self-harm and suicide content is necessary to reduce adolescent suicide rates. Major media outlets have already shifted toward compliance with guidelines for suicide reporting, and research has shown positive effects on suicide prevention. In January this year, Professor Joo Young-ki’s team at Hallym University Media School, in collaboration with researchers from Germany and Austria, examined 606 suicide reports from two domestic daily newspapers between 2004 and 2019 and confirmed significant changes. The research team exposed 308 participants to messages either following or not following the recommended guidelines. Participants who received messages including contact information for suicide crisis counseling centers and information on overcoming crises showed a stronger willingness to help people in suicidal crisis.

Professor Joo emphasized, “Given the rapidly changing media environment, we cannot be certain about the state of reporting since 2019. Considering that there are still no signs of rapid improvement in suicide statistics, ongoing reflection by the media and society on suicide reporting is necessary. More concentrated efforts on the front lines of journalism and further follow-up research are needed to continuously evaluate the quality of articles.”

※ If you have difficult feelings such as depression or know family or acquaintances experiencing such difficulties, you can receive expert counseling 24 hours a day by calling the suicide prevention hotline ☎109.