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Chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean - Source: Close Up -
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Debate is growing after chief coroner, Judge Neil MacLean expressed his concerns today over the media's non-reporting of suicide.
MacLean raised the issue at the same time as releasing statistics that showed 540 people are lost a year to suicide, more than die in road accidents.
The media has strict rules on how it is allowed to report suicide, led by health professionals who argue that if suicide is reported, it can lead to copycat deaths.
But MacLean said responsible reporting could potentially save lives.
But not everyone agrees with him. Professor David Fergusson, an Otago university psychologist who studies suicide, told Close Up tonight that the restrictions and the guidelines imposed on the media do have merit.
He said they prevent more deaths by people who are exposed to "glorified" reports of suicide.
"For example, if a young person had a lot of problems and they see a colleague die by suicide, and everyone around said what a wonderful person he was and how sad they were, and the young person was already suffering angst and difficulties, this is certainly something that would encourage you towards that pathway," Fergusson said.
Fergusson said there seems to be a substantial misunderstanding in the media over the intent and meaning of the reporting guidelines.
"The guidelines do not give a blank prohibition on the discussion of suicide. What they say is that sensationalised reporting of suicide should be avoided.
"They say dealing with individual cases should not be done and reporting methods shouldn't be done and that media should avoid reporting celebrity suicide deaths.
"But the guidelines do not restrict the informed discussion of suicide as a social risk factor at all."
MacLean said the number of New Zealanders taking their own lives was 50% higher than the road toll, but the figure received little attention.
"If the coroner can't publish them, the media can't publish them and the families are desperate to prevent it, how can anyone learn?" he told Mark Sainsbury.
MacLean said that while there may be risk in opening the debate, he believes it is a risk worth taking.
"What we don't know is how many suicides didn't happen because people were aware of what to look out for, the signals.
"So often in a suicide hearing, the message comes through - if only we realised, we didn't know. We didn't know this was going on."
But Fergusson says that while the intention of the judge is good, international suicide research proves our current methods are on the right track.
"With due respect, the judge is a judge. All around the world, the World Health Organisation, the American Association of Suicidology, every professional organisation recommends these guidelines."
MacLean has also said he was open to the idea of allowing the method of suicide to be reported.
But Mark Wilson says he would never like to see that. Wilson lost his wife and unborn child to suicide. His wife's two sisters also died after committing suicide and he now counsels victims of suicide trauma at the Solace Support Group in Auckland.
"Some people do want that detail shared and therein lies the problem. You've got people who want to tell the world about how their loved one died and I do have concerns about that."
Wilson agreed sensible reporting of death by suicide would help greater understanding in the community of what it is like to lose a loved one to suicide.
"I do think we need to be more open, but how open is the question. That's the difficult thing, because we need to be compassionate and respectful."
Media not required
Fergusson says the media, rather than deal with the issue of suicide, always want a more personal take on the story.
"The media have said to me, we want a story; we want to tell a person's story rather than deal with dry statistics."
He says there are no restrictions for anyone in the media who wants to discuss suicide as a social medical problem and its treatment.
"It really comes down to the issue of discussing individual cases in great detail and that has been the division between the research community and the media."
Fergusson also said that while the judge reported the number of deaths ruled as self-inflicted has been about 540 for each of the past three financial years, the actual number of suicides in New Zealand has been falling.
"Our suicide rate has been tracking down since 1995. It's gone up a bit more recently, but there has been a steady decline in rates of suicide."
Fergusson believes the way of dealing with the problem of suicide is not at all through the media.
"It is through developing effective mental health services, effective policies and implementing them well and evaluating them well. There is a long history of discussion from academics, researchers and others engaging with the Ministry of Health and other organisations in trying to develop these strategies.
"In the context of that, the media issue is a relatively minor one."
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