{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,2]],"date-time":"2026-11-02T16:32:05Z","timestamp":1793637125647,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"7","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006624","name":"The Society for Mental Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006624","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,3]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Suicide rates in India are among the highest in the world, equating to over 200\u2009000 suicides annually. Reports of suicides are a routine feature in major newspapers in India, and reporters may selectively present \u2018newsworthy\u2019 suicide stories. The aim of this paper was to systematically investigate whether mass media reports of suicides reflect the epidemiological data on suicide in a high suicide state in India.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We undertook a content analysis study to extract sociodemographic data on suicides reported among nine of the most highly read daily newspapers in the high suicide southern state of Tamil Nadu between June and December 2016. A total of 1258 newspaper articles were retrieved containing reports on 1631 suicides. Two-tailed binomial tests on aggregate frequencies assessed whether the sociodemographic characteristics of suicides in the newspaper articles were different to the population suicide statistics for Tamil Nadu.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We identified some statistically significant discrepancies between suicide characteristics in the population and the media. Suicides involving females (p&lt;0.001), those aged under 30 years (p&lt;0.001), separated or widowed males (p&lt;0.001), unmarried females (p&lt;0.001), those using methods with a higher case fatality rate (ie, hanging (p&lt;0.001), jumping off high structures (p&lt;0.001) and coming under vehicles (p&lt;0.001) and those who were students (p&lt;0.001) or working in the agricultural sector (p&lt;0.001) were significantly over-reported relative to their occurrence in the broader population. Suicides involving men (p&lt;0.001), those aged over 30 years and above (p&lt;0.001), those who were married and suicides by poisoning (p&lt;0.001) were significantly under-reported relative to their occurrence in the broader population.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The suicide characteristics in the print media were not entirely representative of suicides in the broader Tamil Nadu population, which may lead the general public to develop misunderstandings about suicide in their state. The discrepancies we identified will inform tailored suicide prevention education for media professionals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030836","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,19]],"date-time":"2019-07-19T06:27:02Z","timestamp":1563517622000},"page":"e030836","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":42,"title":["Mass media representation of suicide in a high suicide state in India: an epidemiological comparison with suicide deaths in the population"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8073-9213","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gregory","family":"Armstrong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lakshmi","family":"Vijayakumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Voluntary Health Services Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jane","family":"Pirkis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mala","family":"Jayaseelan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Voluntary Health Services Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anish","family":"Cherian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jane Brandt","family":"Soerensen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Kobenhavns Universitet, Kobenhavns, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0594-1526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vikas","family":"Arya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Niederkrotenthaler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Public Health, Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.1","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Preventing suicide: A global imperative. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2014."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e478","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(18)30138-5","article-title":"Gender differentials and state variations in suicide deaths in India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2016","volume":"3","author":"India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Suicide Collaborators","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e459","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(18)30142-7","article-title":"Suicide in India: a complex public health tragedy in need of a plan","volume":"3","author":"Armstrong","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"646","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(16)30030-X","article-title":"Suicide prevention strategies revisited: 10-year systematic review","volume":"3","author":"Zalsman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(15)00234-2"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"O\u2019Connor R , Pirkis J . The International Handbook of Suicide Prevention. 2nd Edn. United Kingdom: Wile-Blackwell, 2016.","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118903223"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.bp.109.074633"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0175580","article-title":"Media effects on suicide methods: A case study on Hong Kong 1998-2005","volume":"12","author":"Cheng","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2017-209502"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2011-200707"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2010.117903"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2009.098293"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.13","unstructured":"World Health Organization, International Association for Suicide Prevention. Preventing suicide: a resource for media professionals, update. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2017."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"348","DOI":"10.4103\/0019-5545.171835","article-title":"Suicide in India - changing trends and challenges ahead","volume":"57","author":"Ponnudurai","year":"2015","journal-title":"Indian J Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"856","DOI":"10.1177\/0004867418772343","article-title":"Assessing the quality of media reporting of suicide news in India against World Health Organization guidelines: A content analysis study of nine major newspapers in Tamil Nadu","volume":"52","author":"Armstrong","year":"2018","journal-title":"Aust N Z J Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.16","unstructured":"Shoemaker P , Cohen A . News around the world: content, practitioners, and the public. New York: Routledge, 2006."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/eurpub\/ckp034"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1027\/0227-5910\/a000118"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"305","DOI":"10.1027\/0227-5910\/a000177","article-title":"Which suicides are reported in the media - and what makes them \"newsworthy\"?","volume":"34","author":"Machlin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Crisis"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.2009.105650"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.21","unstructured":"National Crime Records Bureau. Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India New Delhi, India: Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 2015."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.22","unstructured":"Media Research Users Council. Indian Readership Survey 2014. Mumbai, India: Media Research Users Council, 2017."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.23","unstructured":". Audit Bureau of Circulations. Details of most circulated publications for the audit period January - June 2014. Mumbai, India: Audit Bureau of Circulations 2015."},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1007\/s00127-017-1466-x","article-title":"Trends and socio-economic determinants of suicide in India: 2001-2013","volume":"53","author":"Arya","year":"2018","journal-title":"Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajp.2017.04.024","article-title":"Predictors of non-suicidal and suicidal self-injurious behaviours, among adolescents and young adults in urban India","volume":"29","author":"Bhola","year":"2017","journal-title":"Asian J Psychiatr"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1177\/0038022920010103","article-title":"Hinduism and female sexuality: Social control and education of girls in India","volume":"50","author":"Hinduism","year":"2001","journal-title":"Sociological Bulletin"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.3138\/jcfs.26.1.11","article-title":"Families in India: Beliefs and Realities","volume":"26","author":"Mullaiti","year":"1995","journal-title":"J Comp Fam Stud"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech.54.4.254"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0447.1996.tb09820.x"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.30","first-page":"33","article-title":"Risk factors associated with attempted suicide: a case control study","volume":"46","author":"Srivastava","year":"2004","journal-title":"Indian J Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.31","first-page":"578323","article-title":"Test anxiety levels of board exam going students in Tamil Nadu, India","volume":"2014","author":"Mary","year":"2014","journal-title":"Biomed Res Int"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1186\/1744-8603-10-16","article-title":"The political economy of farmers' suicides in India: indebted cash-crop farmers with marginal landholdings explain state-level variation in suicide rates","volume":"10","author":"Kennedy","year":"2014","journal-title":"Global Health"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1580","DOI":"10.1017\/S0026749X14000225","article-title":"Farmers\u2019 Suicides as Public Death: Politics, Agency and Statistics in a Suicide-Prone District (South India)","volume":"49","author":"M\u00dcNSTER","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mod Asian Stud"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.90.12.1885"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2458-13-850","article-title":"A central storage facility to reduce pesticide suicides-a feasibility study from India","volume":"13","author":"Vijayakumar","year":"2013","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/emj.2003.000935"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2471\/BLT.11.091785"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"428","DOI":"10.1027\/0227-5910\/a000516","article-title":"Associations of tabloid newspaper use with endorsement of suicide myths, suicide-related knowledge, and stigmatizing attitudes toward suicidal individuals","volume":"39","author":"Till","year":"2018","journal-title":"Crisis"},{"key":"2025121400261298000_9.7.e030836.39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0002764203254620"}],"container-title":["BMJ Open"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030836","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,14]],"date-time":"2025-12-14T08:26:20Z","timestamp":1765700780000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmjopen.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030836"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,18]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030836"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2019-030836","relation":{},"ISSN":["2044-6055","2044-6055"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2044-6055","type":"print"},{"value":"2044-6055","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]}}}