Suicide and the Internet have increasingly important relationships as Internet use becomes more ubiquitous.
Several Internet suicides have occurred, and issues involving social media and suicide have gained some attention. A survey has found that suicide-risk individuals who went online for suicide-related purposes, compared with online users who did not, reported greater suicide-risk symptoms, were less likely to seek help and perceived less social support.[1] Jurisdictional hindrances have sometimes prevented governments from effectively restricting pro-suicide sites and sites that describe suicide methods.[2] In 2008, police in the United Kingdom expressed concern that "Internet cults" and the desire for achieving prestige via online memorials may encourage suicides.[3]
Although there are concerns that the Internet may be a dangerous platform, where suicidal people might find suicide methods or encouragement to kill themselves,[4] research has shown that the internet is more likely to have a positive than a negative influence.[5][6]
^Kemp, C. G., & Collings, S. C. (2011). Hyperlinked suicide: Assessing the prominence and accessibility of suicide websites. Crisis, 32(3), 143-151. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000068
^Harris, K. M. (2015). Life vs. death: The suicidal mind online. In E. Aboujaoude & V. Starcevic (Eds.), Mental Health in the Digital Age: Grave Dangers, Great Promise (pp. 135-151). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.