Many media campaigns have urged suicidal people to obtain counseling but little research has examined the effectiveness of these campaigns.

Now officials at Mental Health Services, a Cleveland community mental health center, examined the number of calls to its suicide hotline from and about suicidal individuals before and during two media campaigns. The campaign message was "Suicide is Preventable. Its Causes Are Treatable."

During each of two four-month campaigns, the message was carried on 350 Cleveland-area public buses, 33 billboards and kiosks at five shopping malls. A public-service radio message also aired the campaign message 288 times.

During the first campaign, calls to the suicide hotline increased 29 percent, with calls declining 10 percent during a four-month hiatus. And in each month of the both campaigns, calls increased as compared with the number of calls in corresponding months of the prior year.

The study appears in the journal Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior.