Internet fuels risk of suicide pacts: medical journal
A rash of group suicides that has shaken Japan is a worrying sign of the Internet’s potential for encouraging suicide pacts, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says.
In the latest incident, seven people were found dead on Monday, bringing to at least 26 the number of Japanese who have died in suspected suicide pacts in less than two months. In an editorial published in next Saturday’s BMJ, London consultant psychiatrist Sundararajan Rajagopal notes that some of the pacts are reported to have been arranged over the Internet and involved complete strangers.
Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.Like this author?
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 6 Dec 2004
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Grohol, J. (2004). Internet fuels risk of suicide pacts: medical journal. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2004/12/06/internet-fuels-risk-of-suicide-pacts-medical-journal/
