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. 2017 Oct 1;177(10):1527-1529.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.3333.

Internet Searches for Suicide Following the Release of 13 Reasons Why

John W Ayers  1 , Benjamin M Althouse  2   3   4 , Eric C Leas  1   5 , Mark Dredze  6 , Jon-Patrick Allem  7
Affiliations

Internet Searches for Suicide Following the Release of 13 Reasons Why

John W Ayers et al. JAMA Intern Med. .

Abstract

This quasiexperimental examination of internet search results determines that the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why has both increased suicide awareness while unintentionally increasing suicidal ideation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Ayers owns an equity stake in Directing Medicine LLC and HealthWatcher Inc, both consulting groups that advise on the use of social media and news media for public health surveillance. Dr Dredze has received consulting fees from Directing Medicine LLC and Sickweather LLC, who use social media for public health surveillance. Bloomberg LP provided salary support for Dr Dredze, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Internet Searches Following the Release of 13 Reasons Why
A, Daily trend for all Google searches with the term “suicide” but not also mentioning “squad” alongside expected trends for the days following the release of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. B, Estimated excess for Google searches with the term “suicide” but not also mentioning “squad” by day with corresponding 95% CIs (blue shaded area) and the estimated cumulative excess for March 31, 2017, through April 18, 2017. The cumulative mean for excess of suicide queries was determined to be 19% (95% CI, 14%-24%). C, Cumulative excess for each listed search term for March 31, 2017, through April 18, 2017.
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References

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