Social media use has been linked in the press with suicide and suicidal ideation. However, the evidence suggests a far-from-straightforward relationship between digital use and suicidal behaviour, and it is unclear how many people are affected or why. Although one case is too many for the families and friends of those who take their own lives, identifying factors placing people at risk, rather than throwing a blanket of terror on the activity, may be a much more helpful approach. In fact, current research allows these issues to be placed into context and suggests some risk indicators,1,2 and one recent study develops a social media usage profile for young people who have taken their own lives.3 All these lines of information may help understand this thankfully rare but troubling phenomenon.

Although it is claimed suicide is increasing, this is true only for some countries and sets of people.4 If reducing overall levels of suicide is the goal, then many factors would come higher up the agenda for change than social media use; for example, economic factors are enormously powerful (perhaps the major) predictors of suicide. Additionally, addressing factors impacting middle-aged men (a group not noted for excessive use of digital media) would be a higher priority for overall suicide prevention. However, all factors leading to distress and harm are important, so, keeping in mind the above provisos, what is the evidence relating social media to suicide?

A recent review1 noted a relationship between suicide and compulsive smartphone use for girls and between suicide and web-based communication for boys, but found less evidence for a relationship with general compulsive social media use. An important message is that the factors driving the overuse and its nature (rather than the overuse itself) may be more relevant to understanding suicide. Problematic digital use is part of a set of behaviours, like gambling, shopping, and pornography, that can become "addictive," in that people crave them, feel the need for more of them over time and withdrawn when not engaging in them, and experience severe life disruption because of them. Such behaviours share these features with substance abuse, and common to all is a relatively high rate of suicide—but what drives this tendency across all these behaviours?

A study following a very large group........

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