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A Sex Difference in the Seasonal Variation of Suicide Rate: A Single Cycle for Men, Two Cycles for Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Russell Meares ,
Frederick A. O. Mendelsohn  and
Jeannette Milgrom-Friedman
Russell Meares
Affiliation:
University of Sydney and Westmead Centre, Westmead, N.S.W. 2145, Australia
Frederick A. O. Mendelsohn
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, 3084, Australia
Jeannette Milgrom-Friedman
Affiliation:
Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, 3084, Australia
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Summary

The marked seasonal fluctuation in suicide rates observed by Durkheim appears to be diminishing, and in some cases, to have vanished. In this study, suicide data in Britain from 1958 to 1974 were studied by auto-correlational methods. A cyclical variation was found for both men and women. Men showed a single twelve monthly cycle whereas women showed two cycles. No explanation for this difference is immediately apparent.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 138 , Issue 4 , April 1981 , pp. 321 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

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