A Study on Copycat Suicides and Werther Effect: Myth or Reality

Abstract

Suicide is a critical mental health problem, and during this COVID-19 pandemic, various mental health problems have arisen, leading to an increased tendency for suicides. It is difficult to believe if we lose someone due to suicide, especially if he/she is a popular figure in society, as it does not affect the family and friends of that person but also brings a sense of loss to the community. Copycat suicide is defined as duplication or copycat of another suicide that the person attempting suicide knows about either from the local knowledge or on account of depicting the original suicide on television and in other media.1 Werther effect defines as a popular term for an increase in suicide rates that follow media coverage of suicides or are inspired by reading about others suicides or are linked to a friend or family member who committed suicide.2 In June 2020, a renowned Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead, hanging from the ceiling fan at his house in Bandra, Mumbai, and the alleged manner of death was ruled to have been suicide.3 For around 3 months, all the media was covering this news. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of media coverage of this case (i.e., Werther effect) on the increase in the cases of suicides by hanging (i.e., Copycat suicides) in the rural areas of Himachal Pradesh. Out of 249 medico-legal autopsies in 2020 during the period from June 14 to December 31, there were 28 cases of hanging which constitutes 11.24%, and if we compare it with 2018 and 2019, there were a total of 278 and 253 cases during this period, and amongst these cases, only 13 and 15 cases respectively of hanging were reported which constitutes 4.67 and 5.14%. This study shows that there is about 2 times increase in hanging cases after the death of this renowned actor. In June 2020, just after his death, there is a drastic increase in hanging cases, constituting 24%. Male predominance is more than females as males constitute 75% of cases, which is more than the females, which constitute only 25% of cases. The age group of 21-30 years shows more predominance as compared to the other age groups.