Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:35:09.294Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The time for suicide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

M. Gallerani ,
F. M. Avato ,
D. Dal Monte ,
S. Caracciolo ,
C. Fersini  and
R. Manfredini
M. Gallerani*
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
F. M. Avato
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
D. Dal Monte
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
S. Caracciolo
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
C. Fersini
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
R. Manfredini
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Institute of Legal and Insurance Medicine, Department of Psychology and Institute of First Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Massimo Gallerani, Emergency Department, St Anna Hospital, Corso Giovecca 203, I-44100, Italy.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

To evaluate whether a time pattern exists in the occurrence of suicide, 223 cases observed in Ferrara, Italy, over a 10-year period were considered. The determination of the hour of suicide was precise in 99 cases, presumptive (within a range of 1 hour) in 53, while for another 44 cases it was possible to define a probable time of suicide, grouping into four 6-hour periods (night, morning, afternoon, and evening). The remaining 27 cases were excluded as it was impossible to determine the time reliably. The data were analysed both by means of χ2 test for goodness-of-fit and by single cosinor. A specific pattern, characterized by a significant peak in the late morning – early afternoon hours was found for the entire sample and sex subgroups.

Type
Brief Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , July 1996 , pp. 867 - 870
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCE

Barraclough, B. M. (1976). Time of day chosen for suicide. Psychological Medicine 6, 303–305.Google Scholar
Coccaro, E. F., Siever, L. J., Klar, H. M., Maurer, G., Cochrane, K. & Cooper, T. S. (1989). Serotonergic studies in patients with affective and personality disorders: correlates with suicidal and aggressive behaviour. Archives of General Psychiatry 46, 587–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Maio, D., Carandente, F. & Riva, C. (1982). Evaluation of circadian, circaseptan and circannual periodicity of attempted suicide. Chronobiologia 9, 185–193.Google Scholar
Fedeli, P., Pasqui, G., Sirignano, A. & Palmieri, L. (1987). Thanatochronology: the first 24 hours. Medicina Legale Quaderni Camerti 9, 209–247.Google Scholar
Maldonado, G. & Kraus, J. F. (1991). Variations in suicide occurrence by time of day, day of week, month and lunar phase. Suicide and life Threatening Behaviour 21, 174–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manfredini, R., Gallerani, M., Caracciolo, S., Tomelli, A., Calò, G. & Fersini, C. (1994 a). Circadian variation of attempted suicide by deliberate self-poisoning: a chronobiological study. British Medical Journal 309, 774–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manfredini, R., Gallerani, M., Calò, G., Pasin, M., Govoni, M. & Fersini, C. (1994 b). Emergency admissions of drug abusers for overdose: a chronobiological study of enhanced risk. Annals of Emergency Medicine 24, 615–618.Google Scholar
Motohashi, Y. (1990). Circadian variation in suicide attempted in Tokyo from 1978 to 1985. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour 20, 352–361.Google Scholar
Muller, J. E., Stone, M. D., Turi, Z. D., Rutherford, J. D., Czeisler, C. A., Parker, C., Poole, W. K., Passamani, E., Roberts, R. & Robertson, T. (1985). Circadian variation in the frequency of onset of acute myocardial infarction. New England Journal of Medicine 313, 1315–1322.Google Scholar
Nelson, W., Tong, Y. L., Lee, J. K. & Halberg, F. (1979). Methods for cosinor-rhythmometry. Chronobiologia 6, 305–323.Google ScholarPubMed
Souetre, E., Wehr, T. A., Dovillet, P. & Darcourt, G. (1990). Influence of environmental factors on suicidal behavior. Psychiatry Research 32, 253–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vollen, K. H. & Watson, C. G. (1975). Suicide in relation to time of day and day of week. American Journal of Nursing 75, 263–268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Von Zerssen, D. (1988). Circadian phenomena in depression: theorical concepts and empirical findings. In Trends in Chronobiology, Advances in the Biosciences, vol. 73 (ed. Hekkens, W. Th. J. M., Kerkhof, G. A. and Rietveld, W. J.), pp. 357–366. Pergamon Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Wehr, T. A. (1988). Chronobiology of affective illness. In Trends in Chronobiology, Advances in the Biosciences, vol. 73. (ed. Hekkens, W. Th. J. M., Kerkhof, G. A. and Rietveld, W. J.), pp. 367–379. Pergamon Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Williams, P. & Tansella, M. (1987). The time for suicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 75, 532–535.Google Scholar