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More Websites Pro Suicide on the Internet
Techtree News Staff, Apr 14, 2008 2020 hrs ISTWhile media reportage around suicide as also its portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behavior, the influence of the Internet on such tendencies is little known.
If you ever typed a search that reads "how to commit suicide?" on the Internet, the chances are you'll come across many more Web sites that encourage suicide as against those that offer counseling and support to help wean a person away from any such. This - according to a study conducted by researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Oxford, and Manchester.
While media reportage around suicide as also its portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behavior -- particularly the choice of method used, the influence of the Internet on such tendencies is little known. Though recent reports have put the spotlight on the possible influence of Internet Web sites on suicidal behavior, nothing has been documented about the ease with which these sites can be found on the Internet or the kind of information they offer.
The study started off with a typical search that a person looking for information on how to commit suicide might undertake, with the researchers involving four popular search engines namely Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask, and 12 simple search terms. Altogether, 240 different Web sites were found, a little under half of which provided information about methods of suicide. Almost a fifth of the hits (90) were for dedicated suicide sites, of which half were found to be encouraging, promoting, or facilitating suicide in some way; with just 12 percent Web sites actively discouraging suicide.
Google and Yahoo! were found to show the highest number of dedicated suicide sites while MSN was found to throw up the highest number of suicide prevention sites. Additionally, the three most frequently occurring sites were all pro-suicide while the fourth most frequent site was none other than Wikipedia. The frequent four were all but found to evaluate methods of suicide including detailed information on speed, certainty, and pain associated with each such method.
In India, where over 4.2 crore Indians currently use the Internet, it may be interesting to note that nearly 1.2 lakh people end their lives every year while four lakh more attempt suicide.
While media reportage around suicide as also its portrayal on television are known to influence suicidal behavior -- particularly the choice of method used, the influence of the Internet on such tendencies is little known. Though recent reports have put the spotlight on the possible influence of Internet Web sites on suicidal behavior, nothing has been documented about the ease with which these sites can be found on the Internet or the kind of information they offer.
The study started off with a typical search that a person looking for information on how to commit suicide might undertake, with the researchers involving four popular search engines namely Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask, and 12 simple search terms. Altogether, 240 different Web sites were found, a little under half of which provided information about methods of suicide. Almost a fifth of the hits (90) were for dedicated suicide sites, of which half were found to be encouraging, promoting, or facilitating suicide in some way; with just 12 percent Web sites actively discouraging suicide.
Google and Yahoo! were found to show the highest number of dedicated suicide sites while MSN was found to throw up the highest number of suicide prevention sites. Additionally, the three most frequently occurring sites were all pro-suicide while the fourth most frequent site was none other than Wikipedia. The frequent four were all but found to evaluate methods of suicide including detailed information on speed, certainty, and pain associated with each such method.
In India, where over 4.2 crore Indians currently use the Internet, it may be interesting to note that nearly 1.2 lakh people end their lives every year while four lakh more attempt suicide.
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Anonymous
,Mumbai, on Apr 15, 2008 09:05 AM
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donthide
,delhi, on Apr 14, 2008 11:43 PM
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