COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A popular show released this month on Netflix has some concerned about the topic of suicide. “13 Reasons Why” is a miniseries that chronicles the fictional story of a high schooler who dies by suicide. Counselors in Columbus are concerned about the graphic and glamorized way suicide is portrayed.
Rick Baumann’s son died by suicide 10 years ago. His son took his own life after watching a how to video online.
“The actual [grief] when the police came to my house and told me that what happened. There was two weeks I had to remember to take a breath,” Baumann said.
His son was 33 when he died.
“He suffered from this depression. I knew this, I knew if he would have called me I would have been able to prevent it,” Baumann said.
Bauman closed his successful business six months after his son’s death and became a counselor at North Central Mental Health Services. He hasn’t watched the Netflix show, but after counseling many, he has thoughts about the series.
“I personally don’t think a show that would show how someone would kill themselves … that would not be good,” Bauman said. “The best thing to do is help them figure out how to stay alive instead of 13 reasons to die.”
Dr. John Ackerman, a suicide prevention coordinator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, wrote an article about the show because he’s concerned about seeing increases in mental health concerns in young people, specifically from watching this series.
“Clinicians, therapists, individuals in our ED (emergency department) are reporting that kids are actually being influenced in a negative way and showing increased distress because of this show,” Ackerman said.
Peg Morrison, the director of programs for NAMI Ohio, suffered from depression for years and had to turn the show off, saying the show is too dark and grim.
“The last thing I or most people need to see is a graphic depiction of suicide,” she explained.
According to North Central Mental Services, 166 people died by suicide in Franklin County just last year.
Tap here for a list of suicide warning signs and how to respond, or use the following resources:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255
The Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860
Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or in Ohio, text “4HOPE”. Lifeline Crisis Chat at www.crisischat.org.
