Rapper Logic's song "1-800-273-8255" may have helped prevent a significant number of suicides around the time of its release, according to a study published Monday.
The song's title is the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The study, which looked at data from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2018, found that the tune "was associated with a large increase in calls" to the lifeline, as well as a reduction in suicides.
During a 34-day period following three events — the song’s release, a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards and a performance at the Grammy Awards — nearly 10,000 calls were made to the lifeline, a nearly 7 percent increase over the average number of calls for those time periods, according to the study.
During the same time the lifeline saw an increase in calls, 245 fewer suicides were reported than would have been expected based on past averages, according to researchers.
The 2017 song is about a person who plans to die by suicide but decides to call the lifeline instead, then changes their mind.
“To know that my music was actually affecting people’s lives, truly, that’s what inspired me to make the song,” Logic told CNN in a recent interview about the study. “We did it from a really warm place in our hearts to try to help people. And the fact that it actually did, that blows my mind."
The study, published in the BMJ, suggests the song created what is known as a Papageno effect: when stories of hope and recovery from suicide lead to a reduction in suicide deaths.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
