Logic Song "1-800-273-8255" Linked To Drop In Suicide Among Teens, Study Finds

While it’s an expression that good music can save lives, one study quantifiably showed that the Logic song “1-800-273-8255” did just that. A new study from the peer-reviewed journal The BMJ points to a drop in hundreds of teen suicides after the song was released and performed on TV.

Released by the rapper born Robert Bryson II on April 28th, 2017, the song takes its name from the number for the US National Suicide Prevention Hotline. He went on to perform it live at the MTV Video Awards on August 27th, 2017, and the Grammys on January 28th, 2018. In the days after Logic performed the song on MTV, the Suicide Prevention Hotline said it received a 50% increase in calls.

The BMJ study goes on to state that these performances—as well as the release of the song—correlated with a 5.5% drop in suicide by U.S. individuals aged 10–19. This resulted in 245 fewer suicides during those periods of time, as well as increased discussion of suicide and mental health on social media platforms, particularly Twitter.

Researchers addressed multiple variables that could have also affected the data. The timeframe of April 2017–January 2018 saw numerous high-profile suicides including Chris Cornell, Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Chester Bennington, and more. During this same time, the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why was drawing criticism in the national media and online for its portrayal of suicide and depression. The study even goes so far as to correlate the show with a 5.5% increase in suicides in the U.S. among 10–19-year-olds in the three months after its release.

Yet, while those developing storylines continued to linger in the study’s observation period, data from the Suicide Hotline, social media trends, and local suicide statistics all showed a drop in suicide rates in a 34-day tracking period surrounding the song’s release and performance.

“To know that my music was actually affecting people’s lives, truly, that’s what inspired me to make the song,” Logic told CNN. “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 number for the Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 and click here to access the organization’s resources. The full BMJ study is available here.

Logic – “1-800-273-8255” (ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid) (Official Video)