@article{ref1,
title="Increased suicides during new year, but not during Christmas in Sweden: analysis of cause of death data 2006-2015",
journal="Nordic journal of psychiatry",
year="2018",
author="Hadlaczky, Gergo and Hökby, Sebastian",
volume="72",
number="1",
pages="72-74",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Previous studies have investigated the impact of the Christmas and New Year holiday on suicide rates. However, no such data has yet been published on Swedish suicides. AIMS: To examine the occurrence of suicides on these dates in Sweden between 2006 and 2015. <br><br>METHODS: The suicide count for each date between December 15th and January 15th was obtained from the Swedish cause of death registry. The observations were transformed to Z-scores to enable calculation of p-values. <br><br>RESULTS: A small but non-significant decrease in suicides was observed on Christmas and New Year's Eve. A significant spike was found on New Year's Day (NYD) (Z = 3.40; p < .001), and these excess suicide occurred mainly among men aged 15-24 and 45-64. However, the number of suicides were somewhat lower than expected on the 31st of December (Z = -1.58; p = .115). <br><br>DISCUSSION: The noted increase in suicide on NYD is in line with previous research from other countries. However, the decrease in suicides on the day before NYD suggests a delay rather than a spontaneous increase of suicides. Possible mechanisms to explain this phenomenon are discussed, such as the &quot;broken promise effect&quot;, increased alcohol consumption, or lower help-seeking and accessibility to care.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0803-9488",
doi="10.1080/08039488.2017.1378716",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2017.1378716"
}