Netflix deletes suicide scene from '13 Reasons Why' after mental health experts express concerns

Online streaming service Netflix has removed a controversial suicide scene from its teen drama 13 Reasons Why more than two years on from its premiere.

In a statement, the streaming service said that the three-minute-long sequence from the show’s first season, which depicts the central character taking her own life, had been re-edited on the advice of medical experts.

“We’ve heard from many young people that 13 Reasons Why encouraged them to start conversations about difficult issues like depression and suicide and get help – often for the first time,” Netflix said.

“As we prepare to launch season three later this summer, we’ve been mindful about the ongoing debate around the show. So on the advice of medical experts, including Dr Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, we’ve decided with creator Brian Yorkey and the producers to edit the scene in which Hannah takes her own life.”

Adapted from Jay Asher’s young adult novel of the same name, 13 Reasons Why concerns the suicide of high-school student Hannah Baker and the effect her death has on her classmates.

The re-edited scene, which had previously depicted Baker’s suicide in graphic detail, now cuts directly from a shot of the character looking at herself in the mirror to her parents reacting to her death.

Netflix was criticised by the Samaritans and mental health groups over for the “sensationalised” nature of the scene upon the drama’s release in April 2017, with a spokesperson for the Royal College of Psychiatrists saying that dramatic depictions of suicide “needlessly put vulnerable young people at risk of copycat behaviour”.