In “The Bright Side: Happy Thanksgiving,” which worked on November 23, 2021, in the Spencer (Ind.) Evening World, guest columnist Anne Bright blogged about the reasons for holiday tension: “Most professionals agree that unrealistic expectations are a major contributor. The over-commercialization of the vacations has led us to believe that our lives ought to be a Hallmark TV special. Include monetary stress, toxic household circumstances, fatigue, solitude, and unhealthy consuming routines and the scenario can become critical. Anxiety and suicide boost dramatically throughout the jolly season.”.
APPCs media analysis, which is based on paper stories released over the 2021-22 holiday season, found that a little bit more than half of the stories that directly discussed the holidays and the suicide rate supported the incorrect misconception, while the rest debunked it.
Percentage of newspaper article mentioning both the holiday season and suicide (in a non-coincidental way) that support or unmask the holiday-suicide myth. Stories released throughout the vacation season from 1999-2022. Source: Annenberg Public Policy Credit: Annenberg Public Policy.
For over twenty years, the Annenberg Public Policy Center has sought to fix the popular mistaken belief linking the holidays with suicide by analyzing paper stories to see whether they perpetuated or debunked the holiday-suicide myth. Over the 2021-22 holiday season, just 25 stories made the connection, with 14 of those perpetuating the myth (56%) and 11 exposing it (44%)– amongst the least expensive total counts because APPC has tracked this. (See accompanying figures.).
” Our experience in tracking news stories about suicide over the vacations reveals how tough it is to mark out this myth,” stated Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy. “In the 23 years of our research study, only 9 years had higher rates of debunking of the myth and just 3 of those occurred in the last 10 years.”.
Holiday Suicides: Fact or Myth?
The concept that suicides happen more frequently during the holiday season is a long perpetuated misconception. The vacation suicide misconception supports false information about suicide that may eventually hamper avoidance efforts.
Suicide remains a significant public health problem, one that occurs throughout the year. Each year, more than 36,000 individuals take their own lives.
The U.S. suicide rate rises again.
Provisional information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that the variety of suicides increased in 2021, following declines in 2019 and 2020. The national age-adjusted suicide rate in 2021 was no higher than the current peak in 2018 (14.0 per 100,000 population in 2021 vs. 14.2 in 2018).
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, followed by lockdowns in parts of the United States. According to provisionary information launched by the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics in September 2022, the number of suicides in 2021 was 4% higher than in 2020.
The CDC kept in mind that the month-to-month variety of suicides was lower in 2021 than in 2020 in January, February, and July, and greater in all of the other months.
Average variety of suicides each day in every month from January 1999-December 2021. The holiday-season months November to January are shaded. Data: CDCs National Center for Health Statistics. The 2021 information are provisional.Credit: Annenberg Public Policy.
In 2021, the average number of U.S. suicide deaths each day in January and December put those 2 months among the most affordable of the 12 months– 12th and 10th, respectively. The suicide rate in November in 2021 made it 7th amongst the 12 months. The month with the greatest rate of suicides in 2021 was August. (See figures and table.).
” For some individuals this may be a mentally filled time of year,” Romer said. “With stories concentrating on the holiday blues, seasonal depression, and other modifications in the seasons, there are a great deal of factors that would seem to support the myth. There is likewise concern for those who have actually lost pals and household during the year and who might be experiencing sadness about those losses. But we should not presume that these experiences lead people to suicide.”.
At the very same time, the pandemic exacerbated levels of stress and anxiety and anxiety, especially amongst youths.
From December 29, 2021-January 10, 2022, for example, 47.5% of 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States showed signs of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder, according to surveys performed by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. That compared to 32.1% for the total U.S. rate during that period.
Data: CDC. Table: Annenberg Public Policy Center. Data for 2021 are provisionary.
Perpetuating or exposing the holiday-suicide misconception.
APPC has actually analyzed news coverage of the holiday-suicide myth throughout 23 holiday, from 1999-2000 through 2021-22. In the majority of those years, more newspaper stories supported the myth than exposed it, as was the case over the 2021-22 holidays.
The incorrect connection between the holidays and suicide can be seen in stories such as these:.
By Annenberg Public Law Center of the University of Pennsylvania
December 6, 2022
Variety of newspaper article that support the holiday suicide misconception, from the 1999-2000 holiday through the 2021-22 holiday. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center.
Why its crucial to resolve the holiday-suicide misconception.
Its crucial for reporters and wire service to dispel the misconception due to the fact that permitting people to think that suicide is most likely during the holiday season can have infectious effects on people who are considering suicide. Nationwide suggestions for reporting on suicide encourage reporters not to promote info that can increase contagion, such as reports of epidemics or seasonal boosts, particularly when the claim has no basis in fact. The nationwide suggestions, which were developed by journalism and suicide-prevention groups along with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, say that press reporters need to consult trustworthy sources such as the CDC on suicide rates and provide details about resources that can assist people in need.
Journalists assisting to eliminate the holiday-suicide myth can offer resources for readers who are in or understand of someone who remains in a potential crisis. Those offering important information include the CDC, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In July 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was relabelled the 988 Suicide & & Crisis Lifeline, and 9-8-8 was officially implemented as the hotlines three-digit nationwide telephone number.
Method.
News and function stories connecting suicide with the holidays were identified through searches of both the LexisNexis and NewsBank databases. The researchers used the search terms “suicide” or “suicides” with variations of the words “holiday,” “Christmas,” “New Years,” “increase,” “peak,” and “increase,” from November 15, 2021, through January 31, 2022. APPCs searches initially utilized the LexisNexis database but were expanded in 2019 to include NewsBank for wider coverage of the U.S. press. A reanalysis of previous years since 2015-16, consisting of NewsBank, did not significantly alter the percentage of stories unmasking or supporting the misconception. Scientist figured out whether the stories supported the link, debunked it, or revealed a coincidental recommendation. Coincidental stories were eliminated. Just domestic suicides were counted; abroad suicide bombings, for example, were excluded.
Lauren Hawkins and Madison Russ collected and supervised the coding of the stories, and Thomas Christaldi, Sienna Horvath, Tara Shilkret, and Julia Van Lare did the coding.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center was developed in 1993 to inform the public and policymakers about communications role beforehand public understanding of political, science, and health concerns at the local, state, and federal levels.
For over two decades, the Annenberg Public Policy Center has actually looked for to remedy the popular mistaken belief connecting the holidays with suicide by analyzing paper stories to see whether they perpetuated or exposed the holiday-suicide misconception. The holiday suicide misconception supports misinformation about suicide that might eventually obstruct avoidance efforts.
Its crucial for reporters and news organizations to resolve the myth due to the fact that permitting individuals to believe that suicide is more likely during the holiday season can have contagious impacts on individuals who are pondering suicide. The scientists utilized the search terms “suicide” or “suicides” with variations of the words “holiday,” “Christmas,” “New Years,” “increase,” “peak,” and “rise,” from November 15, 2021, through January 31, 2022. Only domestic suicides were counted; overseas suicide bombings, for example, were left out.
A guest column by Chris Schillig in The (Ohio) Alliance on December 11, 2021, kept in mind: “It is frequently said that suicides increase near the vacations, however this is not accurate. Suicide efforts decrease at Christmastime and peak in the summertime. Still, the caution indications must never ever be overlooked.”.
A December 18, 2021, story in The (Va.) Winchester Star about suicide avoidance assistance being offered year-round, stated, “While people may believe suicides increase during the holidays, stats reveal otherwise.” The story went on to cite CDC monthly suicide data and the Annenberg Public Policy Centers 2018 findings.
In a question-and-answer column published December 22, 2021, in the Highland (Ill.) News Leader, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly reacted to a concern from somebody who was not feeling particularly merry by saying: “I get it– for each joyful party and jubilant carol this Christmas season, there will be someone out there who, for numerous reasons, just hardly makes it through. And unfortunately, some WONT make it through– the numbers show that anxiety and suicide rates peak this time of year.”.
According to U.S. media information collected and analyzed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, the false claim that the suicide rate increases throughout the year-end holiday season continued in some news protection through the 2021-22 holidays.
Some news media stories still incorrectly link suicide with the Christmas vacation season.
The holiday-suicide myth is the long-perpetuated false claim that the suicide rate increases throughout the year-end holiday. In some news protection through the 2021-22 vacations the holiday-suicide myth continued, according to U.S. media information gathered and evaluated by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
Although the U.S. suicide rate increased in 2021 after 2 years of declines, the average everyday suicide rate during the holiday months remained amongst the lower rates of the year.
Stories exposing the misconception include these:.