The coverage of suicide and prominent suicides in the news can have unintended consequences—such as an increase in copycat suicides—so reporters must be cognizant of the research on suicide reporting and how they can minimize that impact. Examples include as not describing suicide methods in detail and not reporting on suicides unless there is a pressing news need, such as the death of a prominent person. The Poynter Institute offers a course that goes more into depth, and the Journalist’s Resource provides a good overviewabout reporting on suicide and the relevant research.
Just as important as the way suicide is reported on, however, is that the statistics and facts are accurate and placed in context. The following data resources can help. First, a page at Western Michigan University explains how to understand suicide data and the importance (and pitfalls) of doing so. The World Health Organization has a robust selection of data sources and databases related to suicide across the world.
The CDC page on National Suicide Statistics provides data on trends and patterns about suicide and even lets you create a map of suicide data for your area. They also have a page listing a wide range of other data sources for suicide, including a fact sheet, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, the National Violent Death Reporting System, the National Vital Statistics System, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which began asking about suicidal thoughts and behaviors of all adults starting in 2008.
The American Society of Suicidology has a page of detailed annual reports on suicide statistics that also include breakdowns by age, gender and geography. It also has some infographics available to reproduce. Similarly, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has an overview of statistics along with graphs that can be adjusted to reflect each state’s data.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has some reports related to suicide (must be searched for). Mental Health America provides an overview of risk factors, general statistics and treatment for suicidality or suicide ideation (suicidal thoughts or plans). The statistics page at Suicide Awareness Voices of Education includes extra stats on gender and age trends.