The purpose of this paper was to analyse the trends in Google searches on suicide, depression and bipolar disorder. Methods. Based on previous studies, the frequency of the search words “how to suicide” and “commit suicide” were analysed for suicide, as well as “antidepressant” and “depression” for depressive disorders. | International Journal of Computer Networks and Communications Security VOL. 3, NO. 1, JANUARY 2015, 1–5 Available online at: E-ISSN 2308-9830 (Online) / ISSN 2410-0595 (Print) Google Trends : ready for real-time suicide prevention or just a Zeta-Jones effect? Guillaume Fond1, 2, MD, Alexandru Gamanb, MD, Emmanuel Haffenb3, 5, MD PhD, Pierre-Michel Llorca3, 4, 5 MD PhD 1 Université Paris Est-Créteil, Pôle de Psychiatrie des Hôpitaux Universitaires H Mondor, DHU Pe-Psy, INSERM U955, Eq 15 2 Fondation Fondamental, Foundation de Cooperation en Santé Mentale. 3 4 5 CHU Clermont Ferrand, France Network of centres for Schizophrenia, Créteil 94000, France. Department of Clinical Psychiatry, University Hospital of Besançon, Besançon, France. E-mail: (*Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Two studies have shown that increasing the consultation of the word "suicide" in the Google search engine was associated with a subsequent increase in the prevalence of suicide attempts. The purpose of this paper was to analyse the trends in Google searches on suicide, depression and bipolar disorder. Methods. Based on previous studies, the frequency of the search words “how to suicide” and “commit suicide” were analysed for suicide, as well as “antidepressant” and “depression” for depressive disorders. Results and conclusions. Together, these analyses suggest that the search for the words "how to suicide" or “commit suicide” on the Google search engine may be a good indicator for suicide prevention policies. However, the tool is not developed enough to date to be used as a real time dynamic indicator of suicide epidemics. The frequency of the search for the word “suicide” was associated with those for “depression” but not for “bipolar disorder”, but searches for psychiatric conditions seem to be influenced by media events more than by real events in the general population. Keywords: Suicide, Google, Internet, Prevention, Depression, .
