Ethical aspects of suicide research

Research is essential for advancing our understanding of suicidal behavior and its prevention, and to offer effective help to those at-risk. However, suicide research entails a range of ethical challenges, which have started to receive some attention. This chapter discusses challenges regarding conducting studies with suicidal people and those bereaved by suicide, and specific ethical concerns regarding suicide research in the context of online and social media environments. It reports on the experiences of researchers and research ethics committees regarding obtaining ethics approval for suicide studies, and provides practical recommendations regarding preparing and conducting suicide-related studies.