Factors fuelling suicidal ideation on social media

Peoples Gazette

Factors that contribute to the prevalence of suicidal ideation on social media include the quality of life, cyber bullying, and suicidal contagion.

Over the past decade, suicide has gained prominence across all social strata, in Nigeria and the world over, chiefly due to evolving shift in lifestyles and the solipsism promoted by technological advancements.

The widespread acceptance and use of social media makes it a go-to place for firsthand information on happenings all over the world. This absorption to social media websites and apps comes with dire consequences on mental health and consumers’ wellbeing as it causes withdrawals from real life interactions among humans

Unfortunately, social media usage has popularised the act of suicide both directly and indirectly, from its means of information sharing to the influence and consequences it has on emotional health. 

Suicide is a the act of an individual ending his/her own life intentionally. Suicide happens all over the world in all regions, across cultures, economic and social status and all age groups. Suicide accounts for high rates of deaths in all regions of the world today. According to the WHO, statistics reveal close to 800,000 people take their own lives every year.

As with other climes, attempted suicide is a crime in Nigeria, punishable by one year imprisonment under Section 327 of the Criminal Code Act, yet the country has one of the highest suicide rates in Africa.

Instructively, suicide risk factors and suicide-related behaviours have attained prominent dimensions on social media due to vast…