People searching the Internet for information about suicide methods are more likely to find sites encouraging suicide than those offering support, according to a study by researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Oxford and Manchester. They found that nearly half the websites showing up in queries of the four top search engines gave how to advice on taking ones own life. Only 13 per cent, by contrast, focused on suicide prevention or offered support.
Previous studies have shown that media reporting of suicide and its portrayal on television influence suicidal behaviour but little is known about the impact of the Internet. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, replicated a typical search that might be undertaken by a person looking for instructions and information about methods of suicide. The same set of search terms were fed into Google, Yahoo, and msn. Google and Yahoo retrieved the highest number of dedicated suicide sites, while msn had the highest number of prevention or support sites.
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