The #BlueWhaleChallenge and presence of suicidal ideations on Polish-language Twitter

ABSTRACT

Objective

The Blue Whale Challenge (BWCh), widely reported as a media hoax in 2017, was allegedly an online game encouraging teenagers to commit suicide.

Method

Google Trends identified the peak interest in the BWCh in March 2017. Tweets containing ‘suicide’ were analyzed, with each tweet reviewed for personal suicidal content. Data on suicide attempts and deaths were sourced from the National Police Headquarters, while hospital admissions data (ICD-10 codes F00-F99 and T36-T65) was collected from the Hospital Morbidity Survey. Crisis helpline data for children and adolescents (116 111) was also gathered.

Results

Between January 24 and April 10, 2017, 17,063 tweets containing ‘suicide’ were posted, with 240 identified as personal suicidal content: 65.7% expressed suicidal thoughts, 11.7% plans, and 1.3% encouragement. In April 2017, suicide deaths were higher among 19–24-year-olds compared to April 2018, while suicide attempts were lower among 13–18-year-olds compared to April 2019. No significant increase in suicide attempts was found during the BWCh period for individuals aged 0-18. Hospital admissions for T36-T65 codes peaked in 2017 for the 5–14 age group. Crisis helpline data showed decreasing phone calls and increasing chat messages from 2015 to 2020.

Discussion

There is no definitive link between BWCh popularity and a rise in suicidal behaviour nationwide. Despite widespread media coverage, there was no noticeable surge in suicide statistics. This study highlights the prevalence of harmful suicidal content on Twitter, emphasising the importance of mental health promotion, prevention, and support for social media users.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• suicide
• suicidal ideations
• child and adolescent psychiatry
• teenagers

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Anna Kowalska and Patryk Dudarewicz for their kindness and help.

Authors contributions

PW and PZ designed the study, managed literature search and analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. PW and MO collected data and created the database. PW performed the statistical analyses. PW and JS prepared the final version of the manuscript. PZ and AG supervised the study at each step. All authors contributed to and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical considerations

Because this study was based only on publicly available sources and did not use individual or clinical data, approval from the ethics committee was not required.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are openly available via the Internet (see the Methods section). Detailed databases used in this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.