Spike in US teen suicides after Netflix '13 Reasons Why' release: study

https://news.yahoo.com/spike-us-teen-suicides-netflix-13-reasons-why-065939492.html

AFP•May 1, 2019

The suicide rate among US teenagers spiked in the months after the release of the controversial Netflix drama "13 Reasons Why", which follows the story of a high school girl who kills herself, a new study has found.

The series was met with concern when it aired in March 2017, with health and education professionals fearing the content was potentially harmful for vulnerable populations, such as adolescents.

According to the new study, researchers estimated there were an additional 195 suicide deaths -- an increase of nearly 29 percent -- among 10 to 17 year-olds in the nine months after its release.

The number of suicide deaths among the same age category "increased significantly" in the month immediately after it hit screens, said the paper, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The additional deaths mainly affected boys.

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