Too Much Sunshine Spurs Suicides in Arctic
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Study Says
02/01/2010 18:42:28
Too Much SunshineSpursSuicides in Arctic, Study Says:
Kate Ravilious for National Geographic News May 8, 2009
Thedreadedblues of dark winter months have long beenblamedforseasonaldepression, but too much sunshine may have an even moredireeffect. In northern Greenland more than 80 percent ofsuicidesoccurin summer, during which the sunbarelydipsbelow the horizon.
"There is so much light that peoplecan't takeit," said lead study author Karin Sparring Björkstén of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The researchers studied records of causes of deaths—1,351due tosuicide—between 1968 to 2002 in Greenland, which is largely above the Arctic Circle. When they looked at the data on amonth by monthbasis, it became clear that suicides were far morefrequentin summer, particularly in the north, where theextendedsummer days are most pronounced. Of the 33 suicides that hadoccuredin the most northerly province, Avannaa (North Greenland), 82 percent had happened during the period of 24-hour sunlight, March 7 to October 8. (Avannaa disappeared from maps in early 2009, when Greenland's administrative divisions were revised.)
Dangers of 24-Hour Living Across Greenland, aprovinceof Denmark, 80 percent of the suicide victims were men. Ninety-five percent of thevictimstook their lives inviolentways—shooting themselves, hanging themselves, or jumping, for example. There was no evidence that the summer increases were related to depressivedisordersor increased alcoholconsumption. Björkstén and her colleagues believe the increase in summer suicides is related tolack ofsleep.
"People live their lives differently during the Arctic summer. Farmersploughtheir fields in the middle of the night, and children are out playing after midnight. They lose their daily rhythm," Björkstén said. Other countries may not have the extreme seasonal sunlightvariations, but anyone can learn from the new research, she said. "Today's 24-hour society is not good for us. Public health would improve if people cared more about their sleep," said Björkstén. Findings published today in the journal BMC Psychiatry.
Too Much Sunshine Spurs Suicides in Arctic - Study Says
Too Much SunshineSpursSuicides in Arctic, Study Says:
Kate Ravilious for National Geographic News May 8, 2009
Thedreadedblues of dark winter months have long beenblamedforseasonaldepression, but too much sunshine may have an even moredireeffect. In northern Greenland more than 80 percent ofsuicidesoccurin summer, during which the sunbarelydipsbelow the horizon.
"There is so much light that peoplecan't takeit," said lead study author Karin Sparring Björkstén of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The researchers studied records of causes of deaths—1,351due tosuicide—between 1968 to 2002 in Greenland, which is largely above the Arctic Circle. When they looked at the data on amonth by monthbasis, it became clear that suicides were far morefrequentin summer, particularly in the north, where theextendedsummer days are most pronounced. Of the 33 suicides that hadoccuredin the most northerly province, Avannaa (North Greenland), 82 percent had happened during the period of 24-hour sunlight, March 7 to October 8. (Avannaa disappeared from maps in early 2009, when Greenland's administrative divisions were revised.)
Dangers of 24-Hour Living Across Greenland, aprovinceof Denmark, 80 percent of the suicide victims were men. Ninety-five percent of thevictimstook their lives inviolentways—shooting themselves, hanging themselves, or jumping, for example. There was no evidence that the summer increases were related to depressivedisordersor increased alcoholconsumption. Björkstén and her colleagues believe the increase in summer suicides is related tolack ofsleep.
"People live their lives differently during the Arctic summer. Farmersploughtheir fields in the middle of the night, and children are out playing after midnight. They lose their daily rhythm," Björkstén said. Other countries may not have the extreme seasonal sunlightvariations, but anyone can learn from the new research, she said. "Today's 24-hour society is not good for us. Public health would improve if people cared more about their sleep," said Björkstén. Findings published today in the journal BMC Psychiatry.