New York, 2021-12-13 18:30:00. Lifeline song, 1-800-273-TALK from Logic linked to fewer suicides: study
TORONTO – The powerful lyrics and storytelling in American rapper Logic’s song, 1-800-273-8255, are credited with an increase in calls to the National Suicide Prevention Life Line (1-800 273-TALK) and a similar decrease in suicides in the United States. In the United States, three public events have garnered the most attention for the song, according to a new peer-reviewed study published in The BMJ.
The song is about a person in a suicidal crisis, and begins with a logic that expresses despair. Followed by Canadian singer-songwriter Alicia Cara who responds with sympathy and a positive message of hope, ending with a rationale singing about perseverance and the desire to live. The song also features American artist Khaled.
The accompanying music video traces the life of a young black man experiencing rejection and bullying for being gay, trying to find acceptance and contemplating suicide, before reaching out to Lifeline with a phone call. The video ended years later, when he found love, happiness, and acceptance.
The researchers say that the song’s poignant effects illustrate the positive impact that popular media can have on vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups with suicidal thoughts.
The observational study, led by Thomas Niederkreutenthaler at the Medical University of Vienna, assessed changes in daily call volumes to the hotline before and after the song’s release, the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, and the 2018 Grammy Awards — the three periods when the song attracted some of the audience’s most attention. unit.
A comprehensive Twitter dataset that looked at all US geospatial-specific song signals, excluding malicious bots, was used to obtain estimates about audience attention and impact period.
It found that in the 34 days after these three events, Lifeline received 9,915 more calls than usual, or 6.9 percent more than it would normally expect. There were also 245 fewer deaths from suicide, or 5.5 percent fewer than expected.
“In my mind, I was like, ‘Man I wasn’t even trying to save anyone’s life,'” Logic, born Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, said in a video of the song. I wasn’t even trying to save your life. Now what would happen if I did that already?”
The song, which peaked at number three on the US Billboard charts in September 2017, was also linked to a nearly 10 percent rise in Google searches for Lifeline in the 28 days since its release, and has garnered more than 1 billion streams on Spotify by researchers. End of 2020. The official music video has been viewed more than 431.78 million times on YouTube.
“Logic’s song probably represents the broadest and most sustainable suicide prevention message that is directly related to the story of hope and recovery anywhere so far, and is thus a serendipitous event for research,” said the authors, who included researchers from Austria, the United States, Canada, and Australia, wrote. .
Researchers said a “dummy variant” was the reason for the release of 13 Reasons Why, a Netflix show that drew heavy criticism at the time of its release for not adhering to media recommendations on safe portrayal of suicide. Previous research found that this symptom was associated with a 5.5 percent increase in suicides in the United States among those ages 10 to 19.
The researchers also factored in World Suicide Prevention Day, and celebrity suicides during the lead-up to the song’s release through the end of December 2018, as additional variables, including the deaths of Chris Cornell, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain. The researchers found that the overall patterns of celebrity suicides were largely consistent with previous research in terms of impact and influence.
“Previous peaks in calls to Lifeline have almost always been associated with adverse media events, such as celebrity suicide,” the researchers wrote, but note that there is little or only limited research to assess positive effects.
“Our finding of a significant increase in actual help-seeking and a potential decrease in suicides during the period of high public interest in Logic supports the real-world efficacy of this intervention.”
The authors note that there are some limitations to the study, including whether the song had any effect after the period in which it received the most attention, and the fact that social media data may not fully capture how many people actually listened to the song.
“Logic has demonstrated the ability of the creative arts to communicate constructive coping strategies to people with mental distress,” Alexandra Pittman, associate professor of psychiatry at University College London, wrote in an editorial in the same issue of the British Medical Journal.
“Future plans for similar interventions should attempt to measure attitudes to suicide in the target audience to help us understand the mechanisms of action. Until then, we welcome the commitment of key cultural influencers to help amplify public health interventions aimed at strengthening suicide protective factors in specific vulnerable groups.”
If you or someone you know is going through a crisis, here are some resources available.
Canada Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-833-456-4566
Center for Addiction and Mental Health: 1800463-2338
Crisis Services Canada: 1-833-456-4566 or 45645 text
Child Helpline: (6868-668-800-1)
Embrace Life Council Hotline: 1-800-265-3333
Transit lifeline: 1-877-330-6366
If you need immediate help, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
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