A research group led by Associate Professor Kim Yun-hee and Professor Hashizume Masahiro of the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo analyzed data from 26 countries and regions around the world to examine the relationship between days of the week, holidays, and suicide, and found that the risk of suicide is higher on Mondays and New Year's Day.
According to the University of Tokyo, the research group collected suicide data from a total of 26 locations in 740 countries and regions around the world, including Japan, South Korea, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Finland and South Africa, and analyzed the relationship with days of the week and holidays.
The results showed that the suicide risk was higher on Mondays and New Year's Day. The suicide risk was lower on weekends in Europe, Asia and North America, but higher in Latin America, Finland and South Africa. The suicide risk over Christmas tended to vary by region.
The research group believes these trends may be related to regional differences in weekend drinking culture, but they cannot rule out the possibility that other factors such as religion or working conditions may have played a role, and believe that further research is needed.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of suicides worldwide in 2019 alone was more than 1. It is the fourth leading cause of death among young people aged 70 to 15. The research group believes that if mental health professionals can recognize periods when the risk of suicide is high, it will be easier to take supportive action.
Paper information:[The BMJ] Association of holidays and the day of the week with suicide risk: multicountry, two stage, time series study
