Summary: Johns Hopkins researchers found that celebrity overdoses and suicides attract far more media attention than information about national hotlines that can help prevent death and connect people to treatment.
Source: Johns Hopkins University
Study finds dramatic imbalance: Coverage of Demi Lovato’s overdose and Anthony Bourdain’s suicide far outpaced mentions of national helplines in news stories, social media and searches
A new study published Jan. 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine analyzed how news outlets, social media users and search engines responded to two highly publicized events in 2018: Demi Lovato’s drug-related hospitalization and Anthony Bourdain’s suicide. The researchers report that while public interest surged around both incidents, very few news reports, tweets or searches included information about national helplines that could provide immediate help.
Following Lovato’s hospitalization for an apparent heroin overdose in late July 2018, Americans posted and searched at very high volumes about the singer and about opioids and heroin. Yet only a tiny fraction of those engagements mentioned the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) national helpline (1-800-662-HELP), the only federally managed, free addiction treatment referral service in the United States.
“Only 10 percent of Americans who need substance abuse treatment receive it,” said Mark Dredze, the John C. Malone Associate Professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins and a co-author of the study. The research team set out to measure public awareness and engagement with SAMHSA’s 1-800-662-HELP after a widely publicized overdose to understand if media and online attention translated into referrals to treatment or awareness of available resources.
To assess reporting and public response, the researchers tracked media coverage, Twitter activity and Google search trends for the week after each event. From July 24–30, 2018, they counted news articles and social posts mentioning “Lovato” as well as mentions of “opioid” or “heroin.” They also tallied mentions of 1-800-662-HELP and related search queries that combined terms for opioids or heroin with “helpline” or “help,” to account for users who might not know the exact number.
The team repeated the same analysis for the week after Anthony Bourdain’s suicide on June 8, 2018, substituting “Bourdain,” “suicide,” and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) to provide a direct comparison of media and public engagement around suicide resources versus addiction referral services.
The findings reveal a stark gap. Although coverage and conversation about Lovato and opioid issues were extensive, mentions of SAMHSA’s 1-800-662-HELP were extremely rare. Of approximately 42,500 news items mentioning Lovato and 25,300 mentioning opioids or heroin archived in Google News during that week, only 216 cited 1-800-662-HELP. On Twitter, nearly one million posts referenced Lovato, but just 258 included the helpline number. Searches that combined opioids or heroin with helpline-related terms were similarly infrequent.
By contrast, in the week following Bourdain’s death the researchers found a much higher volume of engagement related to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: about 4,940 news stories, 20,900 tweets and 29,000 searches that referenced the lifeline. Those numbers represent 22.9, 81.0 and 3.6 times greater volumes, respectively, than the engagements that mentioned 1-800-662-HELP after Lovato’s overdose.
“Exactly when people might benefit most from free, lifesaving resources like 1-800-662-HELP, many do not know they exist,” said John Ayers, the study’s first author and vice chief of innovation at the UC San Diego Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health. The team calls this lack of awareness a critical problem that requires immediate attention.
The World Health Organization has long recommended that media coverage of suicide include helpline numbers to prevent contagion and to connect vulnerable people to support. Drawing on those guidelines, the research team recommends a similar, three-part approach for overdose reporting and addiction resources:
- Reporters covering drug overdoses should routinely include the SAMHSA helpline number (1-800-662-HELP) and referral information in their stories.
- Media organizations should create clear opportunities in coverage and on platforms to highlight the helpline, giving it visible placement when reporting on substance use, overdoses and treatment options.
- Public health agencies and policymakers should invest in promotion and awareness campaigns for 1-800-662-HELP, modeled on successful outreach efforts such as national smoking cessation campaigns that substantially increased use of quitlines and treatment services.
“If you search for suicidal ideation terms, the top link is often to the suicide lifeline with options for chat or phone help,” added Dredze. “Searching for ‘how to stop using drugs’ should return an equally visible, immediate resource—right now it often does not.”
Source: Chanapa Tantibanchachai, reporting on Johns Hopkins University research.
Publisher: Organized and summarized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
Image source: Image in the public domain.
Original research: John W. Ayers, PhD, MA; Alicia L. Nobles, PhD, MS; and Mark Dredze, PhD. “Media Trends for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 800-662-HELP Addiction Treatment Referral Services After a Celebrity Overdose.” Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, January 14, 2019. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.6562
MLA: Johns Hopkins University. “Celebrity Suicides Cause Media Surge, But Few Mentions of Lifesaving Hotline.” NeuroscienceNews. 14 January 2019.
APA: Johns Hopkins University (2019, January 14). Celebrity Suicides Cause Media Surge, But Few Mentions of Lifesaving Hotline. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
Chicago: Johns Hopkins University. “Celebrity Suicides Cause Media Surge, But Few Mentions of Lifesaving Hotline.” NeuroscienceNews. (accessed January 14, 2019).
Abstract
Media Trends for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 800-662-HELP Addiction Treatment Referral Services After a Celebrity Overdose
Despite substantial investments in evidence-based addiction resources, only about 10% of U.S. individuals who need treatment for drug addiction receive it. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) national helpline (1-800-662-HELP) is the only free, federally managed and endorsed U.S. addiction treatment referral service, helping callers find local services that match their needs. This study examined awareness and public engagement with this free resource following a widely publicized celebrity overdose, comparing media mentions, social media activity and search behavior to similar metrics after a well-known suicide.