ABSTRACT
For some time, there has been evidence that suicide could be a contagious social force. In notable cases, suicidal ideation can cluster in specific communities, making members more vulnerable to expressing their negative emotions and life stressors through suicidal gestures. This chapter explores some relevant examples where clustering can be observed, defining key terms in this field. In more recent clustering events, the internet appears to have been an important factor. Indeed, the press have encouraged the idea that internet usage can be key in persuading vulnerable people to opt for suicide. When carefully examined, the internet is a medium for communication of any kind rather than an inherently problematic space. Suicide contagions can and do happen without it. Nevertheless, what the internet does require from researchers is new definitions and methods to reflect contemporary online spaces. In this chapter, the novel definition of an ‘echoing self-harmful contagion’ is introduced in order to capture the way that ideas of harming one’s body spread across space and time in an online setting.
