Investigating Suicide-Related Subliminal Messages on Instagram.

Background: Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds and Instagram is one of the most popular and fastest-growing social media platforms among this age group. A previous study presented preliminary evidence for suicide-related "subliminal messages" on Instagram, defined as very brief presentations of suicide-related content in video posts that users have no conscious awareness of. Aim: A systematic quantitative study was pending. Method: We conducted a quantitative content analysis of 100 Instagram video posts. A frame-by-frame coding procedure allowed for an assessment of whether suicide-related content was depicted in very brief segments, even when this content could not be consciously recognized when watched at regular speed. Results: Analysis indicates that a substantial amount of suicide-related content is presented in very brief shots. We identified 67 very brief shots that appeared in 21 video posts. Of interest, 13 of these video posts presented more than one very brief suicide-related shot. Limitation: The subjective threshold of conscious awareness differs inter-individually. This complicates the operationalization of subliminal messages. Conclusion: Subliminal messages are ethically highly problematic. There is a need for a greater awareness of possible suicide-related subliminal messages on Instagram.

COVID-19 pandemic, government responses, and public mental health: Investigating consequences through crisis hotline calls in two countries.

RATIONALE: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an immense global health threat that has invoked unheard-of containment measures in numerous countries to reduce the number of new infections. OBJECTIVE: The sequential introduction of severe measures, intentionally aiming at reducing the number of new infections, also imposes sharp restrictions on populations with potentially unintended, detrimental effects on public mental health. METHOD: We used observational data reflecting the number of phone calls made to national crisis hotlines in Austria and Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020-April 2020) to investigate the impact of government restrictions as well as their later revocations on public mental health. Importantly, both countries have comparable health care systems, are similar in their political and socio-economic idiosyncrasies, and took similar restrictive government measures in order to contain COVID-19-but implemented them at different points in time. RESULTS: Analysis indicated that the number of crisis hotline calls increased in both countries. This increase seemed to occur at around the same time as the implementation of restrictive governmental responses. Importantly, the revocation of these governmental restrictions (i.e., re-opening the economy, allowing more social contact) seemed to occur at around the same time as the decrease in the number of calls. CONCLUSIONS: The present study supports the notion that the implementation of severe measures affects public mental health. However, the negative mental health effects of COVID-19 may be reduced if severe governmental restrictions are kept in place as briefly as possible.

Effectiveness of a Workshop Intervention on Responsible Reporting on Suicide Among Swiss Media Professionals.

Objective: There is limited knowledge about the effects of a workshop intervention on responsible reporting on suicide (RRS) by media professionals. The study aimed to test how a workshop can shape reporting-relevant attitudes and beliefs among media professionals. Method: A pre-postintervention survey of Swiss media professionals (N = 26, 55.7% male, Mage = 38.1, SDage = 12.8, all Swiss nationals) was conducted. All participants received the same intervention and survey questions. The analytical focus was on within-person changes caused by the workshop intervention. Results: Among media professionals, the workshop intervention increased perceived knowledge sufficiency about RRS, raised awareness that RRS can save lives, decreased insecurities related to RRS, and reduced the misperception that there are no clear recommendations about RRS. Limitations: Despite the missing randomization of workshop participants, the repeated measures design allows to speak to the short-term changes in RRS. Conclusion: An RRS workshop intervention has multifaceted positive effects on media professionals. The study found no evidence for unintended effects of the intervention.