In Case You Haven't Heard…

Abstract

Mondays and New Year's Day have the highest suicide risk according to new research, “Association of holidays and the day of the week with suicide risk: multi‐country, two‐stage, time series study,” published in The BMJ Oct. 23, according to a news release. An international research team used an advanced statistical technique called standardized two‐stage time series analysis to investigate suicide risk patterns. They analyzed data from 740 locations across 26 countries, gathered from the Multi‐country Multi‐city Collaborative Research Network database. This dataset comprised 1.7 million suicide cases, including daily suicide counts along with daily mean temperature data spanning from January 1971 to December 2019. The results revealed that suicide risk was highest on Mondays across all countries, though the effect of weekends varied. New Year's Day was associated with an increase in suicide risk in all countries, while Christmas showed a mixed pattern. Although there was an overall decreasing trend in suicide risk on other national holidays, the risk tended to increase after these holidays in most countries. Notably, the findings also showed that men are more vulnerable to variations related to the day of the week and New Year's Day compared to women. Researchers hope that this large‐scale study can lead to timely interventions, potentially saving countless lives.