Let’s Talk About Suicide…Responsibly

In this course, Dr Ann Luce, Principal Academic in Journalism and Communication, Bournemouth University, examines the question of how those in the mental health and suicide prevention fields, local government workers, communication specialists, and those in the media should communicate about the topic of suicide. Dr Luce outlines the what, why, and how of suicide, as well as discussing stigma, language, and 'othering'. Examples are drawn from the Bridgend suicides in Wales (2008) and also a more recent railway cluster in the Bournemouth area (2019-2020). Attendees learn how to think critically about using social media, communicating with the public, and speaking to the media. Participants: (1) gain a better understanding of how the language used to talk about suicide impacts how a community thinks about suicide and (2) understand how to best engage with all forms of media in order to harness the positive benefits of suicide reporting.