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Cited by 174Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseGun Ownership and Violence Research

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Increase in suicides the months after the death of Robin Williams in the US

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Fink, David S., Santaella-Tenorio, Julian, Keyes, Katherine M.·2018·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0191405PMC PMC5802858
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Abstract

Investigating suicides following the death of Robin Williams, a beloved actor and comedian, on August 11th, 2014, we used time-series analysis to estimate the expected number of suicides during the months following Williams' death. Monthly suicide count data in the US (1999-2015) were from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER). Expected suicides were calculated using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving averages model to account for both the seasonal patterns and autoregression. Time-series models indicated that we would expect 16,849 suicides from August to December 2014; however, we observed 18,690 suicides in that period, suggesting an excess of 1,841 cases (9.85% increase). Although excess suicides were observed across gender and age groups, males and persons aged 30-44 had the greatest increase in excess suicide events. This study documents associations between Robin Williams' death and suicide deaths in the population thereafter.

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Fig 1 News reports related to “Suicide” and “Robin Williams” from June 2013 through December 2014. Number of suicide stories are presented for each month from June 2013 to December 2014 (light blue line). Number of Robin Williams stories for each month from June 2013 to December 2014 (red bars).
Fig 1 News reports related to “Suicide” and “Robin Williams” from June 2013 through December 2014. Number of suicide stories are presented for each month from June 2013 to December 2014 (light blue line). Number of Robin Williams stories for each month from June 2013 to December 2014 (red bars).CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig 2 Monthly number of suicides in the United States from January 2010 to December 2015. Number of suicides are presented for each month, January to December, from 2010 (lightest grey) to 2015 (darkest grey). The year of Robin Williams’ suicide is in red (2014).
Fig 2 Monthly number of suicides in the United States from January 2010 to December 2015. Number of suicides are presented for each month, January to December, from 2010 (lightest grey) to 2015 (darkest grey). The year of Robin Williams’ suicide is in red (2014).CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig 3 Number of observed and predicted suicide deaths in the United States from January 2014 to December 2015. Number of observed suicide deaths (black line) and number of predicted suicide deaths (grey line) with 95% prediction intervals (dashed grey lines) are presented. The 95% prediction intervals are presented for the months following the death of Robin Williams in August, 2014.
Fig 3 Number of observed and predicted suicide deaths in the United States from January 2014 to December 2015. Number of observed suicide deaths (black line) and number of predicted suicide deaths (grey line) with 95% prediction intervals (dashed grey lines) are presented. The 95% prediction intervals are presented for the months following the death of Robin Williams in August, 2014.CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig 4 Sensitivity analysis: Observed and predicted number of suicides in the United States from January 2012 to December 2013. Number of observed suicide deaths (black line) and number of predicted suicide deaths (grey line) with 95% prediction intervals (dashed grey lines) are presented.
Fig 4 Sensitivity analysis: Observed and predicted number of suicides in the United States from January 2012 to December 2013. Number of observed suicide deaths (black line) and number of predicted suicide deaths (grey line) with 95% prediction intervals (dashed grey lines) are presented.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Metadata

Authors
Fink, D. S., Santaella-Tenorio, J., & Keyes, K. M.
Affiliations
Columbia University (US)
Corresponding author
Fink, David S.
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2018-02-07
Volume
13
Issue
2
Pages
e0191405
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0191405
PMC
PMC5802858
OpenAlex
W2785475303
Cited by
156
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 7
FWCI
25.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Columbia Academic Commons (Columbia University)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA031099)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
  • Social Sciences › Health › Gun Ownership and Violence Research
Keywords
Robin Williams, celebrity death, suicide, excess mortality, celebrity influence, public figures, suicide rates, seasonal patterns, gender differences, age groups
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Child, Drama, Famous Persons, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Suicide, United States, Incidence, Young Adult

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