Calls to the National Suicide Prevention hotline jumped 25 percent after the high-profile suicide deaths of CNN food critic Anthony Bourdain and fashion icon Kate Spade last week.
Many news articles and social media posts that reported the deaths of Bourdain and Spade urged people to call the hotline number at 1-800-273-8255 if they are considering harming themselves.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline director John Draper said calls to the hotline expressed feelings of depression and anxiety after Bourdain and Spade took their own lives.
Drape told the Wall Street Journal that celebrity deaths can bring about a “collective sense of loss that many people feel.”
Draper said the people who man the hotline have saved lives by referring callers to mental health resources in their area.
“The research is really clear that these calls have been shown to reduce emotional distress and suicidal crisis,” Draper said.
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