Managing Great Expectations and Debunking the Holiday Suicide Myth
The holidays, for many people, are a season of “great expectations” – and those expectations translate to stress. Whether it is buying the right gifts, worrying about finances, managing excited children, preparing to host gatherings or trying to maintain a balance between end-of-the year work deadlines and increasing personal or social obligations, the holiday season serves up a potent cocktail of high expectations and strained resources.
Healthline, a wellness newsletter, reported the findings of a survey conducted the week before Thanksgiving in 2015. It showed that “65% of respondents from Generation X and 61% of Millennials feel some stress during the holidays. About 62% of Baby Boomers fell into the same category.” These findings are echoed in other surveys by the American Psychological Association and other groups, as well as by the personal experiences of many people. The research indicates that the groups that feel this stress most acutely, on average, were women and people in lower-income groups.
Despite the increase in stress affecting our mental well-being, research consistently shows that suicides and psychiatric admissions are not higher during the holidays than at other times of the year. One 2011 study concluded: “[While] the general mood of individuals may worsen and the number of alcohol-related fatalities may increase around the Christmas holiday, overall utilization patterns by psychiatric patients in emergency rooms and inpatient wards is lower, as is the prevalence of self-harm behavior and suicide attempts/completions.”
The Federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention( CDC ) also reports that November, December and January consistently are among the lowest months of the year for suicides, with monthly suicide rates in the US highest in spring or fall months.
Nevertheless, an association between heightened holiday stress and more suicides is perpetuated in under-researched media accounts, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC). Its analysis of newspaper stories published over the 2021-22 holiday season found that a little more than half of the stories that directly discussed the holidays and the suicide rate supported the false myth, while the remainder debunked it.
The APPC adds that it is important to recognize and debunk this false association “because allowing people to think that suicide is more likely during the holiday season can have contagious effects on people who are contemplating suicide.”
The NH Coalition for Suicide Prevention last December also reported on ways to highlight the importance of managing heightened stress related to this busy time of year, without suggesting that suicides are more common.
Meanwhile, there is no disputing there can be heightened stress, positive or negative, during this time. Trinity Dunham, a psychologist with the US Military Health Service, in a recent blog titled “When the Tinsel Gets Tangled” offers a few tips for coping with holiday stress, including recognizing and accepting you may have emotional reactions to the holidays, but there are ways to around it. For example:
1) Planning ahead
2) Budget time and financial resources
3) Allow yourself to say “no” when you are feeling overwhelmed
4) Practice self-care, using relaxation techniques (meditation, yoga etc)
5) Ask for professional help if necessary
If you or someone you care about is experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis, you can call and speak to trained and caring clinical staff, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call/Text 833-710-6477 or call the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline at 988.