What is the papagen effect?

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In Spain, last year more than 4,000 young people took their lives. In this context, we want to ask ourselves what role the media play in our perception of the environment and how they can play a protective role.

Have you ever wondered how many young people die from suicide? In Spain, we are talking about the cause that causes the most deaths in young people between 15 and 19 years old. Ahead of cancer, traffic accidents and infections. The point is that the figure, already chilling in itself, continues to grow.

Suicide has until recently been taboo. Talking about suicide was like “being a bird of bad omen.” Fortunately, this is changing and, consequently, campaigns and messages are being developed with the aim of raising awareness about a problem that kills. It kills a lot, too much.

It is necessary to act now, here, now: we are all involved in this. As family, friends, professionals or politicians, it is necessary to implement suicide prevention plans that reduce current rates. Now more than ever.

“In the year 2022, there will be a total of 4,000 unnatural and avoidable deaths.”

-Lucía Santonja-

Suicide prevention is fundamental and necessary.

The role of the media

For the World Health Organization (WHO), suicidal behavior is defined as acts by which people may inflict injuries on themselves, regardless of the lethal intention or the degree of knowledge about the motive.

You will have heard phrases like: “suicides are increasing because there is a lot of talk about it” or “when news of suicides appear, the call effect occurs.” The truth is that There has always been an intense debate about the role that information and censorship playAre the media agents that promote or protect against suicide?

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The research on this fact is considerable and refers us to two phenomena: the Werther effect and the Papagen effect.

The Werther effect

This effect takes its name from Goethe’s narrative writings., in which its protagonist, Werther, She takes her own life after breaking up with her lover. When her book was published in the 18th century it was found that while her novels Goethe were selling like hotcakes, suicide rates were increasing at an unprecedented rate.

In this sense, has been called the effect Werther to the fact that the transmission of messages about suicide among the population can produce a call to action effect. The most recent research (Santonja, 2022) shows part of this fact: the way we speak and communicate in reference to suicide has been associated with an increase of between 8 and 18% in suicides after two months.

Good communication and the papagen effect

There are ways and means of communicating. And this is indicated by the research that supports this recognized effect. When the media (digital portals, communication channels, radio, press, etc.) talk about suicide with truthful and quality information, it plays a protective role over the person with autolytic ideas.

This effect was born in 2010 by Niederkrotenthaler and takes its name from the protagonist of one of the operas of Mozart most famous: the flute magical. Its protagonist has ideas about suicide and wants to carry it out, but finally and with the help of other characters who appear in the magic Flute, He manages to resist and improves.

According to Lucía Santonja, the Werther effect is a public health problem.

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Healthy media

The media, and the content they share, They can be very powerful sources of health promotion. In this regard, research shows that there are various techniques that can be facilitated by the media, among which Lucía Santonja (2022) mentions:

Narrate the data truthfully and by an expert professional from the story of someone who has been able to successfully overcome their suicidal thoughts and ideas. In this respect, this narrative can be both real and invented.Implement the above in various communication formats: in video, in articles, in readings or on web portals whose information has been supervised, endorsed and supported by professionals in the field of mental health.

When these actions are carried out repeatedly over time and are endorsed by experts in the field, they are considered well established, effective and safe. This is true for the entire general population.

Preventing suicide is everyone’s job. The fact of communication is a vital factor, since it can produce a harmful effect and induce suicide in people who find themselves in the middle of the whirlwind, which involves wondering whether to continue living.

Fortunately, there is also the opposite effect, if we talk about suicide rigorously, and give examples of people who have overcome really complicated moments, we will be protecting many people from dying. Now, more than ever, the word saves lives.