According to a recent study issued by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, widely-held views that there is a suicide spike during the winter holidays are untrue. Instead, suicide and suicide attempts actually spike during the spring/summer months.
“We know that this finding is counter-intuitive to commonly-held beliefs,” states Theresa Buhse, associate Executive Director, Long Island Crisis Center. “However, by correcting this myth, we can be more pro-active in being suicide aware and preventive if we know the reality.” The Crisis Center urges everyone to be aware of the possible signs of suicide. They include sadness and crying; increase or decrease in sleeping patterns; boredom and listlessness; angry shifting to silent withdrawal; withdrawal from usual social activities; loneliness; loss of interest in hobbies, sports, job or school; drop in grades; inability to complete assignments or pay attention in class; increased risk-taking; sense of worthlessness and low self-esteem; increased use of drugs and alcohol; neglecting personal hygiene and appearance; re-occurring themes of death and self-destruction in poetry, writing, artwork; lack of plans for the future; statements like “I want to die,” “I don’t want to live anymore,” I want to go to sleep and never wake up,” “Soon this pain will be over,” or “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“While this seasonal enigma has not yet been completely explained, it is believed that during the winter, people with depression are often surrounded by persons who are feeling downhearted, too, because of the weather,” continues Buhse. “However, with the arrival of spring, people who were feeling down because of the weather start to feel better and people who are depressed for other reasons remain depressed. They start to question whether they will ever be happy.”
