Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1432934
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 NOVEMBER 2021 INTERVIEW Suicide is too complex to be reduced A video that went viral last week - in which onlookers could be heard encouraging a potential suicide victim to 'jump' – pro- voked a lot of discussion local- ly. Many interpreted it along the lines that 'we have hit rock bottom'… but how representa- tive are such incidents, really, of society as a whole? From a psychologist's point of view, I wouldn't take a standalone incident to mean anything about society at all. Certainly, that vid- eo was not representative of 'so- ciety as a whole'. In fact, I dare- say many people on my timeline were emphatic, and upset by what they saw. There were some who couldn't even bring them- selves to watch it.... So I'm very wary of generalisa- tions about society. Only a couple of days before, there was anoth- er video [of an attempt to rescue lives at sea], and the reactions were the opposite: comments such as, "Look how 'good', or 'be- nevolent', we are as a nation…" But neither reaction, really, tells us much about who we are. At the end of the day, we are nei- ther a 'saintly' nation; nor are we a nation which urges people to commit suicide. If you're going to generalise, you would need a sample that is representative of the society you are trying to study. One isolated case is cer- tainly not enough… In this case, the video was up- loaded onto social media before being reported in the press. This illustrates a reality concerning modern media: newspapers are no longer the 'custodians', so to speak, of the public domain. Anyone can now upload a vid- eo or a photo onto the Internet. How can one be 'responsible' in reporting such cases? Should they even be reported at all? I think it should have been re- ported, yes. But I don't think the video should have been shared. For one thing, out of respect for the [potentially suicidal] person in question; but also, for the sake of the persons conducting the misdemeanour. In the video, we saw only a few seconds of what someone was saying. I complete- ly condemn what was said, of course; but the fact is, that video also gave us a snapshot of the per- son saying it. Now: we don't know anything at all about that person. For all we know, she might have thought she was being 'funny'. And even if there was nothing remotely fun- ny about it… we do have to make a distinction between a 'bad judg- ment', and an active intention to make someone else commit sui- cide. Either way, she faced a lot of backlash. We ended up abusing her, too… so, how much better are we, than her? I do, however, understand that people would not have believed this really happened, had they not seen it with their own eyes. Had it just been a description, with no footage… most people would probably assume that the situation had somehow been misinterpreted'. So I do under- stand that people would feel the need to share the video. However, there is a difference between 'the media', and 'the common person'. The common person is not the media. Social media exists – unfortunately, I would venture to add – but it is the media that have a responsibil- ity, in cases such as this… But whether a video is upload- ed onto social media, or carried as a mainstream news article… the effect is ultimately the same. So should social media be regulated in the same way, when it comes to reporting su- icide? I see what you're driving at; and it's a tough one. From a psycholo- gist's point of view… yes. Ideally, people should not be sharing vid- eos of someone contemplating suicide. But it's a very different question from, 'should the media be regulated'. Let me put it this way: I am not in favour of censorship. But there is fine line between 'freedom of speech', and 'destroying the dig- nity of others'. From a psycho- logical perspective, all I can say is that it would be better if people did not share such videos. And I would even add that, ideally, they should not be allowed to share them, either. Because they are only damaging others in the pro- cess. But that's a psychological per- spective; I do not come from a legal background, so I can't really say what should be regulated, or not. The Chamber of Psychologists warned that "it is a dangerous myth that people who are pub- lic about their suicidal inten- tions are less likely to commit suicide" (a view that was ex- pressed by onlookers). Do you think that – possibly because of media, including television – some people may feel they know more about psychology, than psychologists? People definitely think they know more about psychology, than they really do. And from our perspective: we wish that was the case… and that people really do know as much as they think they know. But you made a valid point there, about television. It might not be coming directly from TV, in itself: but as human beings, we do have a tendency to immerse ourselves in what we are familiar with. Take period dramas, for in- stance: why do we love period dramas? Because they make us feel like we're 'living in that era'. But are we really living in that era? No, of course not. We are only experiencing what the direc- tor wants us to experience… Psychology is no exception. It is not surprising that people misinterpret psychology, when so much of what they think they know comes from… not just TV, but even reading up on the sub- Newly-appointed president of the Chamber of Psychologists, GAIL DEBONO, urges greater caution - by both media and public alike - when dealing with real or potential cases of suicide Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt