Googling for suicide in Croatia: A mixed-methods study

Google search trends have shown promise for predicting suicide deaths. We examined the relationship between search trends data for suicide-related search terms and monthly suicide deaths (2014–2018) in Croatia. We identified two suicide prevention search terms, samoubojstvo and suicid (engl. suicide), where an increase in searches preceded a decrease in suicides, and one suicide risk term, kako se ubiti (engl. how to kill yourself), where an increase in searches preceded an increase in suicides. On webpages elicited by suicide-related search terms, factual information about suicide was most common. Results imply the need for a comprehensive online suicide prevention strategy.