Citation

Balhara YPS, Singh S, Yadav Z. Asian J. Psychiatry 2021; 68: e102955.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102955

PMID

34883318

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to study the attributes of the digital media reports on death due to suicide attributed to gaming. We also aimed to assess the overlap between the 'gaming' and 'gambling' activities in these media reports. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The online media reports on the theme of deaths due to suicides attributed to digital gaming in India were retrieved using the Google News online platform. The news reports were searched in the tor browser using the keywords "gaming suicide India" or "gaming death India".

RESULTS: Gaming was identified as the direct reason for death due to suicide in an overwhelming majority (94.8%) of news reports. A large proportion of the reports failed to report death due to suicide in a responsible manner following the guidelines for responsible media reporting of suicide given by the World Health Organization (WHO). Stakeholders' views and opinions mentioned in the news reports included parents, caregivers or friends (17.5%), other gamers (3.1%), gaming industry (8.3%), and mental health professionals (5.2%). Around 24 per cent reports advocated a ban on 'gaming'.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on our observations we recommend responsible reporting on death due to suicide in the online news. Also, there should be a more rigorous and systematic attempt before reaching at the conclusion while attributing these deaths to gaming. Finally, the news reports should ensure that the boundaries between 'gaming' and 'gambling' do not get blurred.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Gaming; Self harm