‘NO SHARING OF SUICIDE VIDEOS PLEASE’

March 24, 2023 Headlines

BAGUIO CITY

The Baguio Health Council profusely appealed to the public to stop sharing videos of people taking their own lives because it does not help and even spawn more problems. Mental Health Program
Manager Ricky Ducas of the Baguio Health Services Office (CHSO) said this after a CCTV footage of a young girl who jumped from an overpass in the city last Saturday leaked and went viral on social media pages. The footage was spread by inconsiderate social media users and even went on a national scope.

Ducas said sharing of the video created a damaging impact to the people because watching the video of a person taking his or her own life will affects emotions. He stressed though that although depression, which is one of the common cause of suicide is not contagious, emotional distress is.
Days after the video was shared, 10th grader, a female, expired because of severe brain injuries.
Ducas said that right after they have heard about the leaked CCTV footage, the Baguio Health Council convened for an emergency meeting to draw up measures to immediately address the
disturbing matter.

He said that they are pushing for a thorough investigation on how and why was the CCTV footage shared to the public. He added that the people responsible for the irresponsible and unethical sharing of the video will be held liable. The mental health professional revealed that when the video went viral, his mobile phone received a flood calls asking for help and so did their helpline numbers.

Ducas said that many went to their office. He though lamented that the time spent for such should
be spent to people who really needs help. “Pero hindi ko sinasabing hindi naman sila nangangailangan talaga ng tulong,” he clarified. Ducas warned that the sharing of suicide videos also spread misinformation as some videos of incidents that took place in some other places are
assumed to have happened in the viewer’s location, hence creating confusion.

These came as Baguio City led by the City Government celebrates its “Wellness and Longevity Week” from March 27 to April 1, 2023 highlighting it with events raising awareness on the legitimacy and effectiveness of herbal medicines and traditional practices that promote wellness and longevity. The Baguio City Council declared March 27-April 1 of every year as wellness and longevity week, peaking on a summit and expo focusing on increasing the awareness of individuals and families on the natural way of preventing illnesses and maintaining the physical, mental and social wellness through the practice of traditional and alternative ways to compliment the regular medicine practices.

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN