Suicide prevention: students develop cross-media campaign

03/03/2026

Media communication students have developed a cross-media campaign for World Suicide Prevention Day. It will be rolled out nationwide in September 2026.

The media communication students at their final presentation with their lecturers Emilia Gögl and Dr Dorothea Adler as well as Georg Fiedler, second spokesperson for the steering group of the National Suicide Prevention Programme. (Image: Frank Schwab / Universität Würzburg)

The figures are alarming: there were 10,372 suicides in Germany in 2024, meaning that significantly more people died by suicide than from road accidents, violent offences, illegal drugs and AIDS combined. In addition, over 100,000 people attempted suicide.

Over three decades, the number of suicides has decreased from year to year - from 18,825 cases in 1981 to 9,215 in 2021. Since then, the number of suicides has risen again.

This development highlights the social relevance of suicide prevention. Since 2003, the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have celebrated World Suicide Prevention Day every year on 10 September. The day is intended to raise awareness worldwide and make it clear that suicide prevention is possible.

All campaign planning steps taken

For World Suicide Prevention Day 2026, 23 media communication students at the University of Würzburg have developed a nationwide cross-media campaign on suicide prevention. The students were commissioned to do this by the Regional Networks working group of the National Suicide Prevention Programme (NaSPro) - the working group had approached Professor Frank Schwab, Head of the Chair of Media Psychology.

In the Media Practice study module, the students set to work under the guidance of Emilia Gögl and Dr Dorothea Adler and went through all the central steps of campaign creation: they analysed target groups, researched suitable media formats and developed central messages. They designed social media posts, speakers for podcasts, newspaper and radio articles and posters.

They worked closely with suicide prevention experts in regular feedback loops to ensure the highest quality of content and communication.

High praise from the clients

At the end of the module, the students presented their results to the clients - who were impressed by the professional implementation: the students had presented the sensitive topic in a "responsible, target group-appropriate and technically sound" manner. They had thus shown in an exemplary manner how demanding and effective media psychology training can be in practice.

The NaSPro Regional Networks working group will roll out the student prevention campaign in late summer 2026 in order to have the greatest possible impact on World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September.