Newswise — New research has found that people tend to have the strongest thoughts of wanting to end their own lives during a particular month, which is a few months before the most common time of year when suicide attempts happen (in the spring/early summer). Additionally, the research showed that the time of day when these thoughts are most intense is between 4-5 am.
Many people think that the number of suicides is highest during the winter months, but actually the highest number of suicide attempts occur in the spring and early summer, which has surprised and confused researchers ever since they discovered this trend.
The University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology, together with the University of Amsterdam and Harvard University, conducted a study to investigate when people experience the strongest suicidal thoughts during the year and at what time of day these thoughts are most intense. The study's results have been published in a scientific journal called Nature Translational Psychiatry.
For six years, researchers gathered responses from more than 10,000 individuals in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. These people completed questionnaires and tasks that assessed their mood and thoughts, including ideas about self-harm and suicide. The data was collected using a database called the Project Implicit Health Database (PIH).
According to the researchers, Brian O'Shea and René Freichel, the highest levels of suicidal thoughts occur in December, during the winter season. They developed a theory explaining why suicidal behavior may take a few months to reach a critical point. They also discovered that the time between 4am-6am is when individuals are most vulnerable to suicidal behavior. Finally, they observed a general rise in negative thoughts related to self-harm over the six-year duration of the study.
Dr. Brian O'Shea from the University of Nottingham led the study and shared that it's common knowledge that people with mental health issues can struggle with mood and depression during the winter months, and this is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. However, it's surprising that spring, a season typically associated with improved mood, is actually when people are most at risk of suicide. The reasons for this are complicated, but the research indicates that suicidal thoughts and mood are at their worst in December and at their best in June. Between these two months, there is an increased risk of suicidal behavior because the gradual improvement in mood and energy may lead individuals to plan and attempt suicide. The study suggests that this risk may be influenced by a comparison between the individual's mood and the perceived mood of others who may appear to be improving at a faster rate.
The study utilized online tasks to investigate the changes in explicit and implicit self-harm thoughts over time. Explicit cognition was assessed through direct questions about mood, suicide, and self-harm using a scale of 1-5. Implicit cognition was evaluated through a reaction time task where participants sorted words related to themselves with words related to death and life in real-time.
The study's respondents were divided into three groups: (1) individuals who had attempted suicide in the past, (2) those who had thoughts of suicide and/or engaged in non-suicidal self-injury, and (3) individuals who had no prior history of self-harm or suicidal thoughts/behaviors. The study discovered that negative thoughts related to self-harm increased over the six-year period, and there were seasonal effects on mood and the desire to die, particularly among those who had previously attempted suicide.
The study found a delay between the highest levels of explicit and implicit suicidal thoughts during the winter and the peak of suicide attempts and deaths during the spring. The highest levels of explicit suicidal thoughts were observed in December, followed by the highest levels of implicit self-harm associations in February. Both of these peaks preceded the peak in suicide behavior during the spring and early summer. A similar time delay was observed during a 24-hour period, where explicit suicidal thoughts and mood peaked between 4-5 am, with implicit cognition lagging behind this peak.
Dr O’Shea adds: “This study is the first to look at temporal trends around mood and self-harm thoughts on such a large scale and really pinpoints times when intervention could be most beneficial.”
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