Media coverage of suicide that focuses on recovery and healing has been proven to reduce risk among vulnerable members of a community—a phenomenon Dr. Madelyn Gould refers to as the “Papageno effect.”
For the last two and a half decades, Dr. J. John Mann and his collaborators have been working to characterize brain abnormalities associated with suicide.
“It’s the first time that we know what questions indicate who’s at imminent risk, the very few people who actually need a next step,” says Dr. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber of the Columbia Protocol.
“Another event that has similarities to the one they were injured by can reactivate the emotional trauma that they had sustained. It’s like a contagion effect,” said Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman.
"People tend to tip-toe around sensitive issues like suicide. You shouldn't. You're not going to prompt someone to do it by asking them," said Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman.
Dr. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber has developed a protocol of questions that anyone — not just medical professionals — can ask to identify people who may be at risk of suicide.
