“Why More Suicides Happen in Spring Despite Winter Depression – New Study Reveals”

Short days, gray weather, you would expect people to commit suicide most often in the winter, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is precisely in the frivolous spring that most end their lives. It is a fact that puzzles scientists.

Out new research not only does it appear that people commit suicide most often in spring and early summer, it has also been established that the seed is planted in winter. That’s when suicidal thoughts often start, according to researchers from Harvard and the University of Amsterdam, among others. They found that suicidal thoughts are most common between four and six in the morning, especially in December, several months before the actual suicide peak.

Dark December
For six years, the researchers collected data from more than 10,000 people from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada who reported their moods, thoughts and ideas about suicide and self-mutilation. They completed several questionnaires on these topics. This showed that dark thoughts are most common in December. Only people don’t just go on to carry out those thoughts. There is a tipping point in this thinking process, with most suicides actually taking place around May. These people appear to be most vulnerable to suicide between four and six in the morning.

Winter depression
Although winter is not the season when people most often end their lives, it is the period when people with mental health problems are the most unhappy. “It is clear that winter is the season that people struggle with the most. Their mood takes a turn for the worse as the days grow grayer and shorter. As a result, the risk of depressive symptoms increases,” begins lead researcher Brian O’Shea. “Many people are familiar with winter depression. This is a recognized mental illness that usually starts in the fall and in the spring, when the birds are chirping and the sun shines a lot, usually passes again, only to come back again the following year,” he continues.

More power in the spring
“It therefore sounds contradictory that people with suicidal thoughts are most at risk in the spring and early summer. The reasons for this are rather complex, but at least what we can gather from our research is that suicidal ideation and mood are heaviest in December and lightest in June. In between, there is an increased risk of suicidal behavior. We believe this is due to a slow improvement in their mood and energy levels, which gives these people the strength and determination to make a plan and carry out the suicide attempt,” said researcher O’Shea.

Three different groups were compared: people who had already attempted suicide, people with suicidal thoughts or non-suicidal self-harm, and the control group with people without suicidal thoughts. In particular, the group of people who had already attempted suicide in the past deteriorated further on average during the study. Mood swings, seasonal effects and the desire to die became more and more intense in the six years of the study.

Clear peak
The lag between winter suicidal ideation and spring suicide attempts and suicides is clear from the data. First there is a spike in explicit suicidal thoughts in December. This is followed by the self-harm peak in February, after which most suicides and suicide attempts occur in the spring and early summer. Similar delaying effects can be seen throughout the day, with explicit suicidal thoughts peaking between four and five in the morning and self-harm or thought of self-harm peaking afterward.

“This is the first study to look at seasonal and 24-hour trends in mood swings and suicidal ideation on such a large scale. As a result, we have been able to precisely pinpoint the moments when intervention is most needed for suicidal people,” concludes O’Shea.

The conclusions can therefore be very useful for the emergency services, which can keep an extra eye on things in the spring to prevent bad thoughts from becoming reality.

Do you need a conversation in response to this article? Then you can contact Stichting 113 Suicide Prevention on 0800 0113 or MIND Correlation on 0900 1450.