ABSTRACT
Imitation occurs not only in the strictly defined cases of specific movements, but also in complex situations where the whole event is being copied. Imitation may occur, for instance, in arranging a specific ceremony, or party, in a way similar to that seen before at a friend’s home. Some cases of complex imitation are especially dramatic. One of them is imitation of suicide. Some contemporary reports suggest that television news stories about suicide may be responsible for an increase in the suicide rate, especially among young people. The high increase of the completed suicides also occurred after the third and fourth movies. The authors concluded that “the results are consistent with the hypothesis that some teenage suicides are imitative.” Several authors expressed some doubts concerning the conclusions about the influence of television movies on suicide. The instances of imitation in suicide described show that such imitation does occur.
