Abstract
The temporal variations (month of the year, day of the week, and time of day) in attempted suicide have been studied from data on 13,553 suicide attempts by persons aged 15 years and over from 13 centres participating in the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide mainly in the three-year period 1990–1992. Seasonal and temporal fluctuation in suicide attempts were found throughout Europe. The seasonal pattern for attempted suicide was similar with that seen for suicide with a spring peak and a nadir in December, but only in females. In contrast with suicide, in which deaths are most common on Mondays, the peak days for attempted suicide was Sunday with fewest attempts occurring on Friday. Again this pattern was only statistically significant in females. The peak time of day for attempted suicide in both series was the late evening, whereas suicide is most frequent in the daytime. Our finding that half of the suicide attempts occur in the evening or early part of the night is particularly relevant to prevention, especially the availability of telephone help-lines and the accessibility of other sources of help for people in crisis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bancroft, J.H.J., Skrimshire, A.M., & Simkin, S. (1976). The reason people give for taking overdoses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 538-548.
Barraclough, B., Bunch, J., Nelson, B., & Sainsbury, P. (1974). A hundred cases of suicide: Clinical aspects. British Journal of Psychiatry, 125, 255-273.
Barker, A., Hawton, K., Fagg, J., & Jennison, C. (1994). Seasonal and weather factors in parasuicide. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 375-380.
Bille-Brahe, U., Schmidtke, A., Kerkhof, A.J.F.M., De Leo, D., Jönnqvist J., Platt, S., & Faria, J.S. (1995). Background and introduction to the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Crisis, 16(2), 72-84.
Chiu, L.P.W. (1988). Do weather, day of week, and address affect the rate of attempted suicide in Hong Kong? Social Psychiatry and Epidemiology, 23, 229-235.
Durkheim, É. [(1897) 1951]. Suicide: A study in sociology. New York: Free Press.
Edwards, J.E., & Whitlock, F.A. (1968). Suicide and attempted suicide in Brisbane. Medical Journal of Australia, June, 932-938.
Gabennesch, H. (1988). When promises fail: A theory of temporal fluctuations in suicide. Social Forces, 67(1), 129-145.
Jessen, G., Steffensen, P., & Jensen, B.F. (1998). Seasons and meteorological factors in suicidal behaviour. Findings and methodological considerations from a Danish study. Archives of Suicide Research, 4, 263-280.
Kerkhof, A.J.F.M., Schmidtke, A., Bille-Brahe, U., De Leo, D., & Lönnqvist, J. (1994). Attempted suicide in Europe. Leiden: DSWO.
Kevan, S.M. (1980). Perspectives on season of suicide. Social Science and Medicine, 14(D), 369-378.
Kreitman, N. (1980). Die Epidemioilogie von Suizid und Parasuizid. Nervenarzt, 51, 131-138.
Kunz, P.R., & Kunz, J. (1997). Depression and suicide in the dark months. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84, 537-538.
Maes, M., Cosyns, P., Meltzer, H.Y., Meyer, F.D., & Peeters, D. (1993). Seasonality in violent suicide but not in nonviolent suicide or homicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150(9), 1380-1385.
Massing, W., & Angermeier, M.C. (1985). The monthly and weekly distribution of suicide. Social Science and Medicine, 21(4), 433-441.
Masterton, G. (1991). Monthly and seasonal variation in parasuicide. A sex difference. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 155-157.
Morselli, E. (1881). Suicide: An essay on comparative moral statistics. London.
Phillips, D.P., & Sanzone, A.G. (1988). A comparison of injury date and death date in 42.698 suicides. American Journal of Public Health, 78(5), 541-543.
Piker, P. (1938). Eighteen hundred and seventeen cases of suicidal attempt. A preliminary statistical survey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 95, 97-115.
Pflug, B. (1978). Untersuchungen über jahreszeitliche Schwankungen von Suizid und Suizidversuchen. In W. Engelmann (Ed.), Rhytmusprobleme in der Psychiatrie. Stuttgart.
Platt, S., Bille-Brahe, U., Kerkhof, A., Schmidtke, A., Bjerke, T., Crepet, P., De Leo, D., Haring, C., Lönnqvist, J., Michel, M., Philippe, A., Pommereau, X., Querejeta, I., Salander-Renberg, E., Temesvary, B., Wasserman, D., & Faria, J.S. (1992). Parasuicide in Europe: The WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. I. Introduction and preliminary analysis for 1989. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 85, 97-104.
Rosenthal, N.E., Sack, D.A., & Wehr, T.A. (1983). Seasonal variation in affective disorders. In T.A. Wehr & F.K. Goodwin (Eds.), Circadian Rhythms in Psychiatry. USA: Boxwood Press.
Rosenthal, N.E., Sack, D.A., Gillian, J.C., Lewy, A.J., Goodwin, F.K., Mueller, P.S., Newsome, D.A., & Wehr, T.A. (1984). Seasonal affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 72-80.
Schmidtke, A., Bille-Brahe, U., De Leo, D., Kerkhof, A., Bjerke, T., Crepet, P., Haring, C., Hawton, K., Lönnqvist, J., Michel, M., Pommereau, X., Querejeta, I., Philippe, A., Salander-Renberg, E., Temesvary, B., Wasserman, D., Fricke, S., Weinacker, B., & Faria, J.S. (1996). Attempted suicide in Europe: Rates, trends and socioaldemographic characteristics of suicide attempters during the period 1989–1992. Results of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 93, 327-338.
Stack, S. (1995). Temporal disappointment, homicide and suicide: An analysis of nonwhites and whites. Sociological Focus, 28(3), 313-328.
Zung, W.K., & Green, R.L. (1974). Seasonal variation of suicide and depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 30, 89-91.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jessen, G., Andersen, K., Arensman, E. et al. Temporal fluctuations and seasonality in attempted suicide in Europe. Archives of Suicide Research 5, 57–69 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009693123399
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009693123399