Ashton J R, Donnan S
Psychol Med. 1981 Nov;11(4):735-9. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700041234.
An epidemic of suicide by burning in England and Wales occurred during the one-year period October 1978 to October 1979, following a widely publicized political suicide. For the 82 cases, death certificates were obtained and coroners' inquest reports sought. The victims were predominantly young single men or older married women; both groups had strong psychiatric histories; and there were no suicides which had political overtones, apart from the index case. Compared with suicides by this method in the past, a higher proportion of victims were born in the UK. It is proposed that a code of practice for the reporting of suicides by the media is required.
1978年10月至1979年10月的一年间，在英国和威尔士发生了一起自焚自杀潮，这是在一次广泛报道的政治自杀事件之后出现的。对于这82起案件，获取了死亡证明并查找了验尸官的调查报告。受害者主要是年轻单身男性或年长已婚女性；这两类人群都有严重的精神病史；除了首例案件外，没有带有政治色彩的自杀事件。与过去这种方式的自杀相比，更高比例的受害者出生在英国。建议制定媒体报道自杀事件的行为准则。
