Werther Effect

Werther effect is a term used to describe 'imitation' or 'copycat' suicide. The term was coined after the Goethe novel "Die Leiden des Jungen Werther" in 1774 which encouraged young men to take their lives like the novel's hero 'Werther'. In the novel, Werther shot himself after a failed love affair. Soon after the novel was published there were many reports of young men using the same method to commit suicide.

There have been two such recent cases reported in the newspaper which occured in UAE. One man killed himself after stabbing his wife and 4 kids to death. The second man cut the veins of his throat and hands and locked himself up in the trunk of his car.

After these cases were reported, suicidal tendencies increased drastically. The psychatric hospital said it got a huge number of cases who had suicidal tendencies after reading about these cases.

Interesting as it may seem, its kinda creepy and scary as well. It follows a principle of suggestion. Its like the people who committed the suicide are kinda like suggesting their ideas to the other people out there, who for some reason or another may have been going through a period of depression at that point o their life, and these ideas remain in their head until they actually decide to try them out.