Calling out the For-Profit Normalization of Suicide

‘13 Reasons Why’

Suicides in The Netherlands have been on the rise in every age group below age 60 but have nearly doubled in the age group 10-20.

In my home country of The Netherlands, 81 teenagers committed suicide in 2017. That’s nearly twice as many as in the previous year, according to the national statistics agency. Researchers are unsure, though, what the cause of the increase might have been, but some point to a new Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, which began airing in March 2017.

Critics have said the series portrays suicide in an all too romantic light. Dutch psychiatrist Jan Mokkenstorm agrees and thinks the series may “hint at young children that suicide is a solution to their problems”.