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Christmas Suicide Myth
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 3, 2024 (message contributor)
It is a myth that suicide rates increase during the holidays. It is true that deaths rise around Christmas and New Year’s Day. Authorities are not sure why, but some suspect it is because people delay addressing health concerns until after the holidays and/or because hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics are understaffed those days. But the idea that suicides escalate is a myth.
According to Alan Mozes of U.S. News and World Report, “Many Americans believe that suicide rates spike every time the holiday season comes around. There’s just one catch: It's not true.
“...When it comes to suicide rates, ‘we have consistently found that the winter months of November, December and January are the lowest, or close to lowest, every year, and there is no evidence of a surge in suicides during the end-of-year holidays,’ said Dan Romer, research director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.”
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