A song by US rapper Logic that references the name of a suicide prevention helpline led to a “notable increase” in the number of calls to the service, new research has found.
Titled 1-800-273-8255 – the number for the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – the song generated strong public attention upon its release and following two notable performances.
Research published in the British Medical Journal showed that following these events an additional 9,915 calls were recorded and there was evidence of a reduction in the number of suicides.
The events were the song’s release on April 28, 2017, Logic’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017 and a later performance at the Grammy Awards on January 28, 2018.
The song, which features Alessia Cara and Khalid, remained in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 US music charts for several weeks. It was ranked at No 3 in September 2017.
The song’s release was also associated with a nearly 10 per cent uptick in online Google searches for Lifeline in the 28 days after. Between March 1, 2017 and April 30, 2018, it generated 81,953 tweets by 55,471 unique users.
Daily tweets reached three peaks corresponding to the events, the research showed.
Analysis found that 1-800-273-8255 was associated with a call volume increase of 6.9 per cent to Lifeline during the 34-day period when public attention to the song was substantial.
Over the same period, there was some evidence of a reduction in suicides amounting to 245 fewer suicides, a decrease of 5.5 per cent, the study showed.
“All these events gave widespread public attention to the message of the song – that help from Lifeline is available and effective,” the researchers said.
“Suicide prevention and education efforts must harness positive media to educate the general public and high risk groups about suicide prevention without doing harm to individuals at risk.
“But a major dilemma for research in this area has been that stories of hope and recovery receive much less media coverage than stories of suicide death.”
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
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Jetour T1 specs
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- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
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Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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