Mental Health-Related Outcomes of Robin Williams' Death: The Role of Parasocial Relations and Media Exposure in Stigma, Help-Seeking, and Outreach.

This study explores responses to the death of actor/comedian Robin Williams, focusing on the role of celebrity attachment and exposure to media coverage following his suicide. A total of 350 respondents recruited on Mechanical Turk completed an online survey. Participants who had a stronger parasocial relationship with Williams reported lower social distance from people with depression, greater willingness to seek treatment for depression, and more frequent outreach to other people with depression or suicidal thoughts following his death. Exposure to media coverage of suicide/depression - both informational and stigmatizing - was associated with more frequent outreach to others, but only informational coverage was related to greater willingness to seek treatment. Stigmatizing media exposure was related to greater depression stereotypes. Seeing more media stories celebrating Williams' life and career was associated with reduced depression stigma but also with less willingness to seek treatment for depression and less outreach to others. Implications of the findings for media and mental health are discussed.