Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka
Aims: There was an exponential increase in the rates of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in Sri Lanka over the last two decades coinciding with the rise of social media. Werther effect is the phenomenon where sensationalised media reports on suicide/DSH leads to increased rates of DSH/suicide. Therefore,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-06-01
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| Series: | BJPsych Open |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425102470/type/journal_article |
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| author | Isuri Wimalasiri Aindralal Balasuriya Madhubhashini Dayabandara |
| author_facet | Isuri Wimalasiri Aindralal Balasuriya Madhubhashini Dayabandara |
| author_sort | Isuri Wimalasiri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aims: There was an exponential increase in the rates of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in Sri Lanka over the last two decades coinciding with the rise of social media. Werther effect is the phenomenon where sensationalised media reports on suicide/DSH leads to increased rates of DSH/suicide. Therefore, assessing the impact of social media on DSH and implementing media regulations are timely needs. The objectives of this study included assessing the extent of exposure and the severity of emotional disturbance incurred due to social media content depicting DSH/suicide and determining the association between exposure and emulating DSH behaviour they were exposed to. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f6ae8f0ca724b1aba741abe365a2fc7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2056-4724 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJPsych Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f6ae8f0ca724b1aba741abe365a2fc72025-08-20T03:51:43ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242025-06-0111S76S7710.1192/bjo.2025.10247Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri LankaIsuri Wimalasiri0Aindralal Balasuriya1Madhubhashini Dayabandara2General Sir John Kotelawela Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri LankaGeneral Sir John Kotelawela Defence University, Ratmalana, Sri LankaFaculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri LankaAims: There was an exponential increase in the rates of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in Sri Lanka over the last two decades coinciding with the rise of social media. Werther effect is the phenomenon where sensationalised media reports on suicide/DSH leads to increased rates of DSH/suicide. Therefore, assessing the impact of social media on DSH and implementing media regulations are timely needs. The objectives of this study included assessing the extent of exposure and the severity of emotional disturbance incurred due to social media content depicting DSH/suicide and determining the association between exposure and emulating DSH behaviour they were exposed to.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425102470/type/journal_article |
| spellingShingle | Isuri Wimalasiri Aindralal Balasuriya Madhubhashini Dayabandara Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka BJPsych Open |
| title | Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka |
| title_full | Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka |
| title_short | Impact of Werther Effect Exerted by Social Media on Individuals Presenting with Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka |
| title_sort | impact of werther effect exerted by social media on individuals presenting with deliberate self harm dsh to a tertiary care hospital in sri lanka |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425102470/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT isuriwimalasiri impactofwerthereffectexertedbysocialmediaonindividualspresentingwithdeliberateselfharmdshtoatertiarycarehospitalinsrilanka AT aindralalbalasuriya impactofwerthereffectexertedbysocialmediaonindividualspresentingwithdeliberateselfharmdshtoatertiarycarehospitalinsrilanka AT madhubhashinidayabandara impactofwerthereffectexertedbysocialmediaonindividualspresentingwithdeliberateselfharmdshtoatertiarycarehospitalinsrilanka |