This “celebrity suicide effect” is an unfortunately well-documented trend that sees an uptick in suicides after someone famous dies by suicide, and speaks to just how impactful news of this kind can be.Ĭlearly, the cause of death in these celebrity tragedies is relevant to the reaction it produces, and a heartbreakingly common cause is accidental drug overdose, which claimed the lives of Cory Monteith, Michael K. suicide rate in the months following comedian Robin Williams taking his own life.
In a 2018 PLOS One study, researchers found, for example, that there was a 10% increase in the U.S.