title: Increasing help-seeking and referrals for individuals at risk for suicide by decreasing stigma: the role of mass media.
abstract: Increasing help-seeking and referrals for at-risk individuals by decreasing stigma has been defined as Aspirational Goal 10 in the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force's 2014 prioritized research agenda. This article reviews the research evidence on the impact of mass media awareness campaigns on reducing stigma and increasing help-seeking. The review will focus on both beneficial and iatrogenic effects of suicide preventive interventions using media campaigns to target the broad public. A further focus is on collaboration between public health professionals and news media in order to reduce the risk of copycat behavior and enhance help-seeking behavior. Examples of multilevel approaches that include both mass media interventions and individual-level approaches to reduce stigma and increase referrals are provided as well. Multilevel suicide prevention programs that combine various approaches seem to provide the most promising results, but much more needs to be learned about the best possible composition of these programs. Major research and practice challenges include the identification of optimal ways to reach vulnerable populations who likely do not benefit from current awareness strategies. Caution is needed in all efforts that aim to reduce the stigma of suicidal ideation, mental illness, and mental health treatment in order to avoid iatrogenic effects. The article concludes with specific suggestions for research questions to help move this line of suicide research and practice forward.
authors.affiliation: Suicide Research Unit, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: thomas.niederkrotenthaler@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niederkrotenthaler
authors.affiliation: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, Bloomington, Minnesota;
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Reidenberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Medicine (Niederkrotenthaler, Till).
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Till
authors.affiliation: Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Madelyn S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gould
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011634:Public Health; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057545:Social Stigma; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*