Social media sites could help build on campaigns to reduce suicide
Social media sites could be used to help build on Government campaigns to provide support for young people, researchers from The Lancet have claimed.
While some sites have previously been seen as promoting self-harm and suicide, the Stirling and Oxford University researchers have now suggested that it could be used to reduce the stigma and direct young people towards getting help.
Professor Rory O'Connor, of Stirling University's Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory, said: "The reasons for adolescent suicide and self-harm are multiple and complex.
"My colleagues and I see that the challenge is in ensuring that new media provide support for vulnerable young people, rather than helping or encouraging self-destructive behaviours.
"For example, we should harness the internet and social media to help destigmatise mental health problems, to signpost people to sources of help and to promote help-seeking."