Experts warn Viiding letters could increase suicide risk

Publishing poet Juhan Viiding’s farewell letters in full and portraying his death as predetermined could give vulnerable readers a misleading impression of suicide, mental health experts told ERR. The book’s author, Mihkel Mutt, rejects the criticism and urges readers to consider the book as a whole rather than focusing only on the letters.

Mutt’s book about Viiding, who died by suicide, has prompted wide debate in recent weeks. Discussion has focused mainly on copyright, but experts say the publication also raises broader public health concerns.

Merike Sisask, a suicide expert and professor of social health at Tallinn University, said the World Health Organization recommends against publishing suicide notes. Such letters can suggest that suicide was a considered decision while obscuring the mental health crisis that preceded it, she said.

“Farewell letters can frame suicide, or people’s understanding of it, as an understandable and justified choice, which suicide very often is not. The letter removes the signs of crisis from the context,” Sisask said.

She said reporting on suicides by well-known people calls for particular care because these stories attract attention, spread quickly and can turn a serious subject into a sensational one. Coverage may leave out important information about recognising suicidal behaviour as a tragedy and how people can seek or offer help, she said.

Experts warn against portraying death as inevitable

Eva Koženevski, a suicide-loss experience expert at Peaasi.ee, a mental health organisation and counselling portal, said publishing a farewell letter could make suicide seem heroic or noble. It could also increase the risk that vulnerable readers identify with the person who died and imitate their actions, she said.

Koženevski added that the impact on the deceased’s loved ones must also be considered.

She said she found the book’s portrayal of Viiding’s death as seemingly inevitable even more concerning than the publication of the letters. Mutt’s description of a “dark thread” in Viiding’s writing from years or decades earlier did not mean his death was predetermined or that the same fate awaits artists, she said.

Mutt rejects the criticism

Mutt said he did not believe publishing the letters would increase readers’ risk of suicide. He argued that they could instead have a cathartic effect, leaving readers better people, and described them as humanistic and moving. He said Viiding was not urging others to imitate him, but acknowledging that he had been unable to adapt to the world.