The suicide of beloved actor Robin Williams has led to a surge of calls to crisis hotlines around the country last week and has boosted the number of people offering to volunteer as mental-health advocates.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline saw the greatest number of calls in its history Aug. 11, the day that Williams’ death was announced. Lifeline calls increased even more the next day to double the usual daily volume, or about 7,500 calls, said John Draper, project director at the lifeline.
But the actual number of calls that day is likely eight times higher, Draper said. His national center receives only about 12 percent of all crisis phone calls. The rest go directly to the 160 local crisis centers around the country. These local centers, from New Mexico to New Jersey, also said their phones were ringing off the hook.
Draper credits the increase in crisis calls to publicity about the national hotline – (800) 273-TALK (8255) – which has been heavily promoted by the news media covering Williams’ death.
Coverage of Williams’ suicide “is not so much creating distress as finding people in distress,” Draper said. “The more people who are calling, the more lives will be saved.”
Williams’ death also has inspired many people to call mental-health advocacy groups, both to help themselves or a loved one, as well as to speak out about mental illness and volunteer.
Calls to the toll-free number at the National Alliance on Mental Illness – (800) 950-NAMI (6264) – jumped 20 percent Tuesday and Wednesday spokeswoman Katrina Gay said. NAMI’s reach on Facebook soared from its usual 91,000 to 1.4 million Wednesday. Emails doubled. So did Web traffic, spiking to 47,000 visitors.
More than 70 percent of people clicking on the website were new visitors, Gay said. And twice as many as usual were clicking the “speak out” tab on the NAMI website.
Crisis hotlines often get more phone calls after the suicide of a famous person. The suicide of a close friend can increase the risk of suicide in vulnerable loved ones.
Even the deaths of strangers and celebrities can increase the risk of suicide in others, a well-documented phenomenon known as “suicide contagion,” said Aaron Krasner, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut.
Mental-health advocates have urged journalists to be sensitive to this danger when reporting about Williams’ death to avoid romanticizing suicide or making it look like a good option.
“There’s always a concern about ‘copycat’ suicides when a death by suicide is reported in the media,” said Paul Holtzheimer, director of the mood disorders service at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “This is more likely when the deceased is a celebrity, and the risk is greater with greater media coverage.”
About three-quarters of Krasner’s patients last week wanted to talk about Williams’ death, he said. Many were saddened to see someone die from a disease with which they are also struggling. Distressed parents also called him, worried that “this is what’s in store for their child.”
While sensational media coverage can be harmful, responsible coverage also can raise awareness of depression and the benefits of treatment, leading some people to get help, Holtzheimer said.
“It means that people aren’t suffering in silence,” said Jeffrey Borenstein, president of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation in New York. “They are looking to get treatment, so they reduce the risk of a tragic outcome like suicide.”
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Hotline numbers
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: (800) 273-TALK (8255).
National Alliance on Mental Illness: (800) 950-NAMI (6264)
Axis Health Systems crisis hotline: 247-5245.
