Study links suicide, heavy metal

By Eric Johnson [10 pts ML]

DETROIT, (UPI): Three social scientists recently released a study of United States heavy-metal subculture that they say shows a clear link between its hard-edged music and suicide among young adults.

The study's authors -- professors at Wayne State, Auburn and Michigan universities -- sought to add empirical data to the anecdotal evidence that fuels debates in schools and the U.S. Congress on the effects of heavy-metal music.

The study suggests the loud bass guitar and emotional singing of the heavy metal genre nurtures suicidal tendencies among youths already alienated and depressed by life's problems.

The results were published in the academic journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

The study was based on a comparison of the circulation of a popular heavy-metal magazine, Metal Edge, and the suicide rates of adults aged 15 to 24 in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Publications geared toward distinct cultural groups are often used by social scientists examining those groups, the authors wrote.

According to the study, states where Metal Edge is more widely circulated have higher suicide rates. "Our findings suggest that the greater the extent of the heavy metal subculture, the greater the youth suicide rate," the authors wrote.

But the authors stopped short of blaming heavy metal's lyrics for the suicide phenomenon.

"Heavy metal music is marked by relatively high levels of alienation and despair" and "themes of chaos reflect suicidogenic conditions already present in its audience," they wrote.

"We contend that the lyrics themselves are not the immediate cause of the suicidal behavior, but that they fall on the ears of an adolescent who is already -- because of home family and school problems... -- a moderate or even high risk for suicide."

The authors said they hoped the study helped fill a void in heavy-metal research and help resolve future debates and legal cases, such as the unsuccessful 1991 lawsuit against CBS filed by the parents of an Atlanta boy who killed himself after listening to Ozzy Osbourne's Suicide Solution.

- 30 -