Logic’s suicide song ‘1-800-273-8255’ helped save hundreds of lives

By Joe Morgan via SWNS

Rapper Logic's suicide prevention song has been linked with saving hundreds of lives, according to new research.

Researchers say the track title "1-800-273-8255" the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, was linked to a reduction in suicides and increased calls to the hotline.

But the rapper has candidly admitted he didn't set out to save anyone's life and has been overwhelmed by the fact he has done so.

The song surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify last year after being released in 2017 and reached number three in the US Billboard charts and number nine in the UK.

Researchers say the reason why they wanted to study the effects of the song is because there is clear evidence media reports of suicide can trigger further suicides.

However, there is less known about the protective effects of reports of hope and recovery, mainly because they receive much fewer media coverage than stories of a suicide death.

The song describes someone in a suicidal crisis who calls the number for help, which marks a turning point towards improvement and mastery of their crisis.

As published in The BMJ Christmas edition, researchers examined the associations between Logic’s song and daily calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number as well as daily suicides in the US.

They found that in the 34 day period immediately after the three events with the strongest public attention (the song’s release, the MTV Video Music Awards 2017, and Grammy Awards 2018), there were an extra 9,915 calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, an increase of 6.9 percent over the expected number.

Over the same period, there was a reduction of 245 suicides or 5.5 percent below the expected number

Discussing the song, the 31-year-old Rapper said: "Fans that I met randomly, they've said things like, 'Your music has saved my life. You've saved my life.'

"And I was always like, 'Aw so nice of you. Thanks.' And I give them a hug but in my mind, I'm like, 'What the f**k?'

"And they're really serious. And they tat sh*t on their arms and get sh*t like lyrics that save their life and in my mind, I was like, 'Man I wasn't even trying to save nobody's life.'

"And then it hit me, the power that I have as an artist with a voice. I wasn't even trying to save your life.

"Now what can happen if I actually did?"

Dr. Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, associate professor at the Medical University of Vienna, said: "These findings emphasize the potential population health benefits of working creatively and innovatively with other sectors, such as the music and entertainment industries, to promote new impactful stories of help-seeking that resonate with broad audiences, leave a visible footprint on social media, and are safe in terms of not featuring potentially lethal actions but rather coping and mastery of crisis.

“Interventions that follow these principles could help create behavioral change to increase help-seeking and prevent suicide."

Dr. Alexandra Pitman, from University College London, commented: "This study further supports the Papageno effect - the theory that media reports of an individual overcoming a suicidal crisis are protective against suicide.

"Further work is needed to help us understand the intervention’s likely mechanism of action, but until then, I welcome the commitment of key cultural influencers to help amplify public health interventions intended to strengthen protection against suicide in specific vulnerable groups.”