Is Suicide Contagious?

In 2018, the host of CNN’s Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown suicide sparked scrutiny regarding the media’s journalistic approach to reporting cases of suicide (Arkin). Public health studies carried out by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) claim that news reports on suicide may promote suicide contagion. Suicide contagion consists of clusters of “multiple deaths by suicide that occur within a defined geographical area and fall within an accelerated time” (“Role of Media Coverage in Suicide Outbreaks”). The CDC’s report on rising suicide rates following media coverage of suicide cases raises…