Belief in suicide prevention myths and its effect on helping: a nationally representative survey of Australian adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Debunking suicide myths, such as 'asking someone about suicide could make them start thinking about it' is a common strategy in suicide prevention education. However, there has been little research investigating the relationship between suicide myths and helping behavior toward people at risk of suicide. We aimed to identify sociodemographic characteristics associated with belief in eight common suicide myths and the associations between beliefs in these myths and helping intentions and behaviors toward a family member or friend in severe distress or at risk of suicide. METHODS: We conducted a random digit dial (mobile and landline) survey of 3002 Australian adults. We asked resp..