Abstract
BackgroundDebunking suicide myths, such as ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’ is a common strategy in suicide prevention education. However, there has been little research investigating the relationship between suicide myths and helping behavior toward people at risk of suicide. We aimed to identify sociodemographic characteristics associated with belief in eight common suicide myths and the associations between beliefs in these myths and helping intentions and behaviors toward a family member or friend in severe distress or at risk of suicide.MethodsWe conducted a random digit dial (mobile and landline) survey of 3002 Australian adults. We asked respondents about their beliefs in suicide myths, intentions to help a person in severe distress or at risk of suicide presented in a vignette, and helping actions taken toward such a person in the last 12 months. We weighted this data to be representative of the Australian population. Regression analyses were undertaken to determine associations between sociodemographic and exposure characteristics and beliefs in suicide myths, and between beliefs in myths and helping intentions and behaviors.ResultsBeing male, speaking a language other than English at home and being over 60 years were associated with the strongest beliefs in suicide myths. The strongest and most consistent associations were found between belief in the myth ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’, risk assessment intentions and behaviours and intentions to undertaken actions not recommended for suicide prevention.ConclusionsIdentifying those sociodemographic groups most likely to believe in suicide myths allows targeted intervention for suicide prevention education ‘debunking’ suicide myths. By isolating those myths that are most commonly believed, and their specific effects on helping intentions and behaviors, suicide prevention educators can target these specific myths to have the most effect on helping behavior. Our findings suggest that targeting the myth ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’ may have the greatest effects on helping behavior, and that men, those aged over 60 years and those speaking a language other than English at home could most benefit from myth ‘debunking’.
Highlights
Debunking suicide myths, such as ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’ is a common strategy in suicide prevention education
We identified several myths commonly believed by lay people [9, 13, 14, 16,17,18, 24,25,26,27] and included seven items in the survey representing these myths: (1) ‘There is a risk that asking someone about suicide will make them start thinking about it’ [14, 16, 18]; (2) ‘There is a risk of making the situation worse if I try to help someone who is thinking about suicide’ [18]; (3) ‘Suicide happens without warning’ [15,16,17]; (4) ‘Most suicides occur without any sign’ [28]; (5) ‘People who make suicidal threats rarely kill themselves’ [14, 16]; (6) ‘If a person wants to kill themselves, we should not interfere’ [16]; and (7) ‘Once a person has made up his or her mind about suicide, no one can stop him or her’ [14, 16]
Endorsement of suicide prevention myths The most commonly endorsed myths, each endorsed by more than one quarter of respondents, were ‘suicide happens without warning’ (41.5, 95% 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 39.2–43.8); ‘there is a risk that asking someone about suicide will make them start thinking about it’ (30.5%, 28.4–32.6); ‘there is a risk of making the situation worse if I try to help someone who is thinking about suicide’ (29.4%, 27.3–31.5); and ‘most suicides occur without any sign’ (26.7%, 24.7–28.8) (Table 2)
Summary
Debunking suicide myths, such as ‘asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it’ is a common strategy in suicide prevention education. Examples of suicide myths shown to be relatively common among community samples include the belief that people who attempt suicide don’t talk about it [13, 14]; that suicide happens without warning [15,16,17]; that asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it [14, 16, 18]; and that once a person has made up his or her mind about suicide, no one can stop him or her [14, 16] Such views of suicide may reduce the likelihood of community members intervening with someone who may be at risk because they believe they might make the situation worse or that suicide is not preventable. Beliefs in suicide myths have been shown to be especially common among men [16, 19] and older people [13], and vary widely between cultural groups [20]
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