The Broken Brain · Popped Collar Productions

Depiction of Youth Suicide in American Cinema, with Dr Alessandra Seggi

·52 min·4 clips

Discover how the Papageno effect uses media to show suicide survivors finding hope and community support.

This episode of The Broken Brain focuses on depictions of youth suicide in American film and media. Host Dwight Hurst is joined by Dr. Alessandra Seggi, a sociologist and author of "Youth and Suicide in American Cinema: Context, Causes and Consequences." Dr. Seggi's academic work and personal experiences with loss inform her analysis. The conversation traces the sociological study of suicide back to Émile Durkheim's 1897 work, which argued for social factors beyond individual psychology. They discuss the Netflix series *13 Reasons Why* as a modern case study that sparked widespread debate about responsible portrayal. Dr. Seggi notes a key problem: young people are heavily represented in entertainment but rarely involved in writing or producing these stories. The discussion covers the persistent stigma around suicide and the myth that talking about it plants the idea. They reference the 988 suicide prevention lifeline and the challenges some individuals report when seeking help through such systems. One surprising insight is that non-fictional news reports of suicide may carry a higher risk of imitation, known as the Werther effect, than fictional depictions. Dr. Seggi explains media guidelines that advise against detailing methods and stress providing context and resources. The counteracting "Papageno effect," named for a character in Mozart's *The Magic Flute*, describes portrayals that show overcoming a crisis and can be protective. She cites research by Thomas Niederkrotenthaler on this positive effect. The 2017 song "1-800-273-8255" by Logic is highlighted as an example that led to a measurable spike in calls to the crisis hotline. Dr. Seggi shares a poignant quote from a comment on *13 Reasons Why*: "Suicide doesn't end the pain, it simply passes it on." The episode also touches on Kevin Hines, a survivor who advocated for the suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. A key takeaway is that sharing and community connection can be a powerful antidote to the isolation often felt in suicidal crises. The tone is conversational and educational, blending academic research with personal reflection and practical considerations. Listeners interested in the intersection of media, psychology, and sociology would find this episode compelling. Those seeking purely entertainment-focused film analysis or who are sensitive to frank discussions of suicide may prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A calm, thoughtful look at who gets to frame youth stories on screen.

Broken Brain looks at how young people are framed in film and media, and it keeps circling back to a basic question: who gets to tell those stories in the first place?

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Why you'd press play

If you want a sharp look at how films and media leave young people out of the room, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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