ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2013
Variation and seasonal patterns of suicide mortality in Finland and Sweden since the 1750s.
Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- [Early death and causes of death of patients with autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review].Beijing da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Peking University. Health sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Vitamin D supplementation improves well-being in patients with frequent respiratory tract infections: a post hoc analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.BMC research notes · 2015Trial
- The effect of seasonal and meteorological factors on suicide rates in the Lithuanian population in 2001-2021: a case‑crossover study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Factors determining the means of suicide among suicidal patients treated by mobile emergency medical services in Brazil.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Intended and suicidal trauma to the anterior neck in Finnish young adults.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Article
- Seasonal variation in suicide: age group and summer effects in the United States (2015-2020).BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- The last jump: epidemiology of suicides at the Tour Eiffel (Paris) between 1950 and 1989.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2024Article
- Seasonal changes and decrease of suicides and suicide attempts in France over the last 10 years.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Sunshine, temperature and suicidal behaviour in patients treated with antidepressants: an explorative nested case-control study.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Temporal patterns of suicide and circulatory system disease-related mortality are inversely correlated in several countries.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
- Seasonality of suicide: a multi-country multi-community observational study.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2020Observational
- The association between PM2.5 exposure and suicidal ideation: a prefectural panel study.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Relationship of Nocturnal Wakefulness to Suicide Risk Across Months and Methods of Suicide.The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2020Article
- The emergence of social gaps in mental health: A longitudinal population study in Sweden, 1900-1959.PloS one · 2020Article
- Associations between ambient high temperatures and suicide mortality: a multi-city time-series study in China.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2019Article
- A 20-year study of suicide death in a statewide autism population.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2019Article
- Seasonal variation of mortality from external causes in Hungary between 1995 and 2014.PloS one · 2019Article
- Chris Cornell, the Black Hole Sun, and the Seasonality of Suicide.Neuropsychobiology · 2019Article
- Article
- The impact of ambient air pollution on suicide mortality: a case-crossover study in Guangzhou, China.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesSuicide mortality varies in both the short and long term. Our study examines suicide mortality in Finland and Sweden from the 1750s until today. The aim of our study is to detect any seasonal peaks in suicide rates and examine their temporal evolution to suggest a mechanism that may explain such peaks.
methodWe acquired the study material from the Finnish and Swedish cause of death statistics (257,341 deaths by suicide) and the relevant population gender structure data. We then separately calculated the annual male and female suicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants. We analysed the suicide peaks, calculating factors of proportionality for the available data by dividing the suicide rates in the peak months (May and October) by the annual suicide rates.
resultsSuicide rates in Finland and Sweden peak twice a year. Both men and women in both countries most often commit suicide in May. There is another peak in October, with the exception of Finnish men. These suicide peaks coincide with a temperature increase in May and the biggest annual drop in temperature in October. We also observed a monotonic long-term change in the Swedish statistics, but not in the Finnish data. Our hypothesis is that seasonal variation in suicide rates may be caused by abrupt temperature changes twice a year that trigger the activity in brown adipose tissue and deepen depression.
conclusionWhile the overall suicide mortality rates varied considerably, the monthly proportions in May did not. This finding suggests a routine factor underlying the spring peak in suicide mortality.
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