Christmas is coming and . .

One of the cards we've been discussing led me to ponder the suicide rates at Christmas.

When I started training in the area of counselling we were all told that Christmas was a time of great joy and also a time of:

Suicide (especially amongst men),

Marital breakdown,

Murder (and/or domestic violence), and the onset of

Mental illness.

But is this really the case? Let's start with the first category and see if we can establish some truth regarding suicide rates (UK):

 

Figures for year ending 2008 (Source ONS) Men =17.7 per 100,000, women = 5.4 per 100,000.

So we can immediately see that the assumption that suicide being a male dominated sport does have some credibility. But what happens if we can find rates by month (or at least season) will this support Christmas as a prime mover for suicide or do we need to then expand our thinking to include SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) such that we find Christmas gets off from being the culprit?

A 1993 study (Cullum SJ et al) focussing on London hospital admission of self-harm compared Christmas Day, 7th February and 15th August over a seven year period found the following:

Christmas day - 12 cases
7th February - 25 cases
15th August - 25 cases

Compare this with another study from 1991 (Masterton G) focussing on adults (>16) in Edinburgh for the period 1969 to 1987 who were admitted due to parasuicide incidence (i.e. deliberate self-harm) at Christmas in Women.

This report saw a 20% drop for women in the month of December followed by an 11% increase in the first week of January
For men, there was no difference in incidence (or admission) during the same period and no subsequent rise either.

The reality appears to be that suicide and parasuicidal activity (i.e. successful or otherwise) actually decreases around Christmas. I guess this makes it an urban myth! (and now we can debunk that myth, which is always fun!)

The reality is that because of the season, people tend to notice, and perhaps comment to others more, suicide and so the awareness if raised, rather than the incidence.

If you'd like some studies to read regarding this, how's about

Ajdacic-Gross V, Wang J, Bopp M, Eich D, Rossler W, Gutzwiller F. Are seasonalities in suicide dependant on suicide methods? A reappraisal. Social Science & Medicine 2003;57(7):1173-1181.

Cullum SJ, Catalan J, Berelowitz K, O'Brien S, Millington HT, Preston D. Deliberate self-harm and public holidays: Is there a link? Crisis 1993;14(1):39-42.

Jessen G, Jensen BF, Arensman E et al Attempted suicide and major public holidays in Europe: findings from the WHO/EURO Multicentre study on parasuicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1999;99(6):412-418.

Jessen G, Jensen BF. Postponed suicide death? Suicide around birthdays and major public holidays Suicide Life Threat Behaviour 1999;29(3):272-282.

Masterton G. Monthly and seasonal variation in parasuicide: A sex difference British Journal of Psychiatry 1991;158:155-157.

Phillips DP, Wills JS. A Drop in suicides around major national holidays. Suicide Life Threat Behaviour 1987;17(1):1-12.


Enjoy