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Time patterns and seasonal mismatch in suicide
T Partonen1, J Haukka, S Pirkola
1Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland. timo.partonen@ktl.fi
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|January 17, 2004
Summary
Seasonal environmental changes, including temperature shifts and daylight variations, may influence suicide timing. Northern regions showed a higher incidence of suicides potentially linked to these environmental mismatches.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Psychiatry
- Chronobiology
Background:
- Suicide patterns may be influenced by environmental factors.
- Physical time-givers, such as meteorological and astronomical data, are underexplored in suicide research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential modifying effect of physical time-givers on the timing of suicide deaths.
- To explore the relationship between environmental data and suicide occurrences.
Main Methods:
- A psychological autopsy method was used to collect data on 1397 suicides in Finland over one year.
- Individual data were linked with local meteorological and universal astronomical data.
Main Results:
- A higher than expected number of suicides occurred in the northernmost region of Finland (P = 0.03).
- Northern location was a significant predictor of suicide (P = 0.001).
- Suicides were associated with changes in ambient temperature, particularly preceding colder conditions in spring (P < 0.00001).
Conclusions:
- A mismatch between ambient temperature changes and alterations in day length may precede suicide in susceptible individuals.
- Environmental factors, specifically temperature and daylight variations, warrant further investigation in suicide prevention.