Suicide and the Internet

Overview of the relationship between suicide and internet use

Suicide
Social aspects ACEs Altruistic Bullying Copycat Dysfunctional family Epidemic Identity performance Legislation Philosophy Religious views Right to die School bullying Shame Social isolation Social media and suicide Social rejection Social support Toxic workplace Voluntary euthanasia Workplace bullying
Crisis Assessment of risk Crisis hotline (list) Intervention Prevention Suicide attempt Suicide watch
Types Assisted Bullying and suicide (list) Copycat Familicide Forced Honor Jauhar Mass Murder–suicide Prisoner suicide Rail Pact Internet Prayopavesa Sallekhana Sati Self-sacrifice Senicide Seppuku Sokushinbutsu Suicide attack Vatakkiruttal
Epidemiology Gender differences LGBT-related suicides Methods Rate by country Seasonal effects Suicidal person Youth suicide among LGBT youth
History List of suicides Suicide in antiquity List of suicides in the 21st century
In warfare Banzai charge Kamikaze Suicide mission
Related phenomena Anguish Alcoholism Anhedonia Anxiety disorder Autism spectrum Coping Coping planning Depression (mood) Diseases of despair Echo chamber Grief Ideation Locations Major depressive disorder Mental disorder Neurodevelopmental disorder Non-suicidal self-injury Perfectionism Schizophrenia Self-harm Self-hatred Substance abuse Suffering Suicidal ambivalence Suicide and the Internet Suicide and trauma Suicide awareness Suicide in colleges in the United States Suicide in music subcultures Suicide note Suicide survivor Suicide terminology Suicide tourism Suicidology Warning signs of suicide
By country Rate by country Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh Cameroon Canada China France Greenland India Iran Ireland Japan Lithuania Nepal Pakistan Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom United States
Organizations Compassion & Choices Death with Dignity National Center Dignitas Exit International Final Exit Network Hemlock Society
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Suicide and the Internet have increasingly important relationships as Internet use becomes more ubiquitous.

Several Internet suicides have occurred, and issues involving social media and suicide have gained some attention. A survey has found that suicide-risk individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes, compared with online users who did not, reported greater suicide-risk symptoms, were less likely to seek help and perceived less social support.^[1] Jurisdictional hindrances have sometimes prevented governments from effectively restricting pro-suicide sites and sites that describe suicide methods.^[2] In 2008, police in the United Kingdom expressed concern that "Internet cults" and the desire for achieving prestige via online memorials may encourage suicides.^[3]

Although there are concerns that the Internet may be a dangerous platform, where suicidal people might find suicide methods or encouragement to kill themselves,^[4] research has shown that the internet is more likely to have a positive than a negative influence.^[5]^[6]

References

^ Harris, Keith; McLean, John; Sheffield, Jeanie (July 2009), "Examining Suicide-Risk Individuals Who Go Online for Suicide-Related Purposes", Archives of Suicide Research, 13 (3): 264–276, doi:10.1080/13811110903044419, PMID 19591000, S2CID 205804938
^ Mishara, Brian L.; Weisstub, David N. (2007), "Ethical, legal, and practical issues in the control and regulation of suicide promotion and assistance over the internet", Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37 (1), Suicide & life-threatening behavior: 58–65, doi:10.1521/suli.2007.37.1.58, ISSN 0363-0234, PMID 17397280
^ Nick Britten and Richard Savill (23 Jan 2008), Police fear internet cult inspires teen suicides, Telegraph
^ Prior, Trevor (August 2004), "Suicide Methods From the Internet", The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161 (8), Am J Psychiatry: 1500–1, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.161.8.1500-a, PMID 15285986
^ Kemp, C. G., & Collings, S. C. (2011). Hyperlinked suicide: Assessing the prominence and accessibility of suicide websites. Crisis, 32(3), 143-151. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000068
^ Harris, K. M. (2015). Life vs. death: The suicidal mind online. In E. Aboujaoude & V. Starcevic (Eds.), Mental Health in the Digital Age: Grave Dangers, Great Promise (pp. 135-151). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

v t e Suicide
Suicide crisis	Assessment of suicide risk Crisis hotline list Suicidal ideation Suicide intervention Suicidology Suicide prevention Suicide watch Warning signs
Social aspects	ACEs Advocacy Altruistic Awareness Bullying Dysfunctional family Economic anxiety Euthanasia Failure Identity performance Interpersonal theory Legislation Philosophy of suicide Shame Religious views Right to die School bullying Social inequality Social media and suicide Social rejection Social stigma Suicide survivor bereavement Literature Terminology Suicide and the Internet Toxic workplace Workplace bullying
Suicide types	Assisted suicide list Bullying and suicide list Charcoal-burning Copycat Epidemic Familicide Forced Gunshot Hanging Honor Immolation Jumping from height locations Mass Murder–suicide Vatakkiruttal Seppuku Sokushinbutsu Sallekhana Sati Prayopavesa By train London Underground Self-sacrifice Banzai charge Kamikaze Senicide Suicide attack By cop By pilot Pact Suicide pill Vehicular
Epidemiology	Sex differences List of countries by suicide rate Antidepressants and suicide risk
History	Suicide in antiquity List of suicides heads of state and government in the 21st century
Related	Anguish Animal suicide Caring letters Consensual homicide Depression (mood) Diseases of despair Echo chamber Last words Perfectionism Self-harm Self-hatred Suffering Suicide attempt Suicide methods Suicide note Tourism Suicide prevention contract
By subculture	Doctors LGBT youth list Mormon Military Music subcultures Prisoners Youth
By country	Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh Belarus Bhutan Cameroon Canada China France Denmark Greenland Greece Guyana Hong Kong student India youth farmers Iran Ireland Japan Kazakhstan Lithuania Mexico Mozambique Nepal Nigeria Pakistan Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea LGBT youth Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Assisted suicide United States Assisted suicide college farmers military veteran Native American teenage Uruguay

v t e Digital media use and mental health
Proposed or recognised diagnostic categories	Computer addiction Internet addiction disorder Internet sex addiction Online problem gambling Problematic smartphone use Nomophobia Problematic social media use Television addiction Video game addiction
Disciplines involved	Digital anthropology Digital sociology Ergonomics Cognitive ergonomics Computer-mediated communication Cyberpsychology Engineering psychology Human–computer interaction Media naturalness theory Neuroergonomics Neuroscience Psychiatry Evolutionary Psychology Clinical Cognitive Evolutionary Social
Associated psychiatric conditions	Anxiety disorder Generalized anxiety disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder Social anxiety disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Autism Bipolar disorder Depression Eating disorder Anorexia nervosa Body image disturbance Insomnia Narcissistic personality disorder
Related topics	Behavioral addiction Behavioral modernity Body image Criticism of Facebook 2021 Facebook company files leak Cyberbullying Cyberpathology Digital detox Digital zombie Evolution of cognition Evolutionary mismatch Fear of missing out Mobile phones and driving safety Promotion of anorexia Psychological effects of Internet use Screen time Binge-watching Social aspects of television Television consumption Smartphones and pedestrian safety Social media and suicide Suicide and the Internet Technophilia Technophobia Technostress Texting while driving