While practising sensitivity is the bare essential for any piece of reporting by media houses, it becomes extremely essential when talking about an incident of suicide. One of the most ludicrous practice is to use the phrase ‘committed suicide’ when reporting a case of suicide. Using sensitive vernacular is of paramount importance, especially at a time when the whole world is struggling with the havoc wreaked by the pandemic.
We need to remember that our words have consequences and we must do everything in our power to make use of the right choice of words when dealing with mental health conditions and suicidal tendencies. The correct choice of words here would be ‘died by suicide’ as it simply implies the cause of death and not how it happened.