Why are There More Suicides in The Spring?

It's a beautiful spring day here in San Francisco. Perfect time to talk about suicide, really. Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews. Did you know that suicides peak in the spring? It's a stable trend that has been tracked since the 1820s and in dozens of countries around the world. The most suicidal month is May, when suicides spike by up to 50%. I would have guessed it would be a winter month but...nope, the winter months actually have the LOWEST suicide rates. As for those affected, suicide is most common amongst those over 65, but for the 15-24 age group, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death. While women are more likely to have suicidal *thoughts*, men are most likely to *complete* a suicide and make up about 80% of cases. This is attributed to the fact that men are more likely to use unforgivable means: like firearms, whereas women are more likely to overdose or poison themselves. There are a lot of big questions to untangle the suicide web in order to effectively prevent them, and one of them is: why spring? Why suicides around the world peak in the spring is actually one of the most studied questions in psychiatry. Which makes it even stranger that scientists still don't have any hard answers. One of the original theories when this was first discovered in the 1800s that the spring brings more sun, and with the sun more feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin provide us with more energy. But in a depression sufferer, that energy manifests not with more socializing and time outdoors -- but as inward aggression and self harm. Spring's sun may provide a boost of energy required to successfully execute a suicide plan. While this is an ollllld theory, it's one that's still around and highly regarded by scientists. In fact, the serotonin bit was a more recent development. Another leading theory comes down to the relationship between suicide and inflammation. What we've already known for awhile is that there is a strong link between depression and inflammation -- inflammatory diseases heighten depression risk more so than other diseases do. There are a couple reasons why inflammation might be higher in the spring -- people tend to get sick more in the winter (which I did another DNews on why if you're interested) and there may be residual inflammation from those late winter infections. Another reason is, of course, allergies! Allergies drive an inflammatory response. A study at the University of Maryland has actually found a positive link between high tree pollen counts with high seasonal suicide rates. It's also been found that those who work in agriculture have even more exaggerated suicide rates in the spring. It may very well be in the trees, peeps. I seem to recall an M. Night Shamalan movie about something like that? I think it was called "The Happening". .....Kind of weird. Maybe he was onto something. Thanks for joining me for DNews everyone, stay safe and healthy. I've dropped some stuff down below in the description for anyone out there who may be having a tough time themselves this spring. Nobody should have to go it alone, and sometimes reaching out for help is the bravest thing you can do to take care of yourself. I'll see you folks next time.