On June 5th, 2018, fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead in her apartment in New York. Kate Spade was best known for her iconic handbags, and many people are remembering the first Kate Spade handbag they bought or received as a significant point in their life that represents coming of age or adulthood.

On June 8th, 2018, famous chef and storyteller Anthony Bourdain was also found dead. Many people commented that they felt as if they‘d lost a friend, and shook viewers all around the world.

Both of these deaths were suicides, and this news seemed to prove phenomenon called the ‘suicide contagion’, defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as “an increase in suicides due to the exposure to suicide or suicidal behaviors within one’s family, one’s peer group, or through media reports of suicide.” This seems to be because when someone we admire takes their own life, it makes us reflect on our own lives. Because if supposedly happy, famous, wealthy people who seem like they have everything they could ever want, commit suicide, what hope is there for normal people like us? This is the mindset of many people who are calling suicide hotlines following celebrities’ deaths.

Over the years, people have been contributing more and more to suicide prevention movements and organizations. However, following the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, these voices have been louder, calling for people to seek help if they need it. And they have been doing exactly that. Suicide hotlines all over the country have been experiencing an increase in calls following the deaths of these people. A suicide hotline, REAL Crisis Intervention, reported that the day Kate Spade was found dead was the busiest day of the year so far, with 333 calls. However, this increase in calls is a positive matter, as it shows that people are actually seeking help.

<Nichole Kim Cleveland HS 10th Grade>