The positive impact of calling a suicide a suicide
34-year-old actor died suddenly.
Local mother died after brief illness.
Brother, son, friend died unexpectedly.
Maybe you’ve seen similar obits, headlines, or social posts, only to learn later that suicide was the cause of death.
Families and communities often hide the reality when a loved one dies by suicide. Judgement, protection, and fear often drive the decision to keep quiet.
But what if naming the tragedy that took the life of a beloved resulted in something positive?
That’s the power of the Papageno effect.
Positive impact of talking about suicide
The Papageno effect says there is a positive influence on healing, hope, and recovery when, in concept, the mass media1 responsibly reports on suicide. It’s named for the character Papageno in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” who loses his love and feels the only way out of his pain is suicide. Before he can act on it, three characters show him other ways to solve his problems.
In real life, the Papageno effect played out in September 2024 when musician Jon Bon Jovi intervened to stop a woman’s suicide attempt in Tennessee. Media coverage of the intervention and the woman’s survival was widespread, producing strong, local evidence of an approximately 30% reduction in suicide mortality, specifically among males2.
Further evidence comes from The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which says that positive storytelling is responsible for 280 people not following through with suicide for every one suicide that’s reported in the media3.
“The Papageno effect…shows that if in the media we have conversations…like an informed, rich, robust conversation about suicide – the suicide rate goes down; rates of suicidal ideation go down. The whole population has benefited just by us talking about it,” said Clancy Martin, University of Missouri–Kansas City philosophy professor and author of the book “How Not To Kill Yourself: A Portrait Of The Suicidal Mind.”4
How you can use the Papageno effect
Admittedly, not everyone has a mass media platform on which to share stories of hope and recovery. However, there are ways you can have an impact in your sphere of influence.
- Post stories on your social media accounts of hope and recovery using the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Storytelling Checklist3.
- In your social media posts, include relevant resources, such as calling or texting 988 to talk to a trained counselor at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
- Invite local experts with lived experience to tell stories of hope and recovery at your organization’s meetings or events.
- Contact your schools’ counselors, school board members, or principals about creating programs that incorporate local experts and survivors and educate on how positive story telling can be impactful.
Learn more about the Papageno effect.
Who to talk to if you or someone you know is in crisis
- Call or text 988 – 988 connects to a trained counselor at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, who will listen, understand, support, and connect to resources if needed.
1Mass media may include news reports, social media, movies, TV, books, blogs, and theatre.
2British Journal of Psychiatry, Suicide rates in the USA following the Jon Bon Jovi Papageno media event, Cambridge University Press, 2026
3988Lifeline.org, Storytelling for Suicide Prevention Checklist
4Depresh Mode Podcast, Intentionally Blunt and Very Useful Talk About Suicide with Clancy Martin, 2026
