‘13 Reasons’ might have triggered suicide searches online

CHICAGO — A popular TV series that showed a teen ending her life may have triggered a surge in online searches for suicide, including how to do it. That’s according to a new study about the show “13 Reasons Why.’’ Netflix released all 13 episodes on March 31. Researchers found that for almost three weeks afterward, there were at least 900,000 more than expected Google searches including the word “suicide.’’ That’s a 19-per cent increase based on forecasts using Google Trends and historical search trends. Searches included suicide methods, suicide hotlines and suicide prevention.

The study doesn’t prove a link and didn’t examine any connection with actual suicides or attempts. It was published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.