Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Atmospheric pressure and suicide attempts in Helsinki, Finland

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Biometeorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The influence of weather on mood and mental health is commonly debated. Furthermore, studies concerning weather and suicidal behavior have given inconsistent results. Our aim was to see if daily weather changes associate with the number of suicide attempts in Finland. All suicide attempts treated in the hospitals in Helsinki, Finland, during two separate periods, 8 years apart, were included. Altogether, 3,945 suicide attempts were compared with daily weather parameters and analyzed with a Poisson regression. We found that daily atmospheric pressure correlated statistically significantly with the number of suicide attempts, and for men the correlation was negative. Taking into account the seasonal normal value during the period 1971–2000, daily temperature, global solar radiation and precipitation did not associate with the number of suicide attempts on a statistically significant level in our study. We concluded that daily atmospheric pressure may have an impact on suicidal behavior, especially on suicide attempts of men by violent methods (P < 0.001), and may explain the clustering of suicide attempts. Men seem to be more vulnerable to attempt suicide under low atmospheric pressure and women under high atmospheric pressure. We show only statistical correlations, which leaves the exact mechanisms of interaction between weather and suicidal behavior open. However, suicidal behavior should be assessed from the point of view of weather in addition to psychiatric and social aspects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajdacic-Gross V, Lauber C, Sansossio R, Bopp M, Eich D, Gostynski M, Gutzwiller F, Rossler W (2007) Seasonal associations between weather conditions and suicide—evidence against a classic hypothesis. Am J Epidemiol 165:561–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajdacic-Gross V, Bopp M, Ring M, Gutzwiller F, Rossler W (2010) Seasonality in suicide—a review and search of new concepts for explaining the heterogeneous phenomena. Soc Sci Med 71:657–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker A, Hawton K, Fagg J, Jennison C (1994) Seasonal and weather factors in parasuicide. Br J Psychiatry 165:375–380

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bille-Brahe U, Schmidtke A, Kerkhof AJ, De Leo D, Lonnqvist J, Platt S, Sampaio Faria J (1995) Background and introduction to the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Crisis 16(72–8):84

    Google Scholar 

  • Brent DA, Oquendo M, Birmaher B, Greenhill L, Kolko D, Stanley B, Zelazny J, Brodsky B, Bridge J, Ellis S, Salazar JO, Mann JJ (2002) Familial pathways to early-onset suicide attempt: risk for suicidal behavior in offspring of mood-disordered suicide attempters. Arch Gen Psychiatry 59:801–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breuer HW, Breuer J, Fischbach-Breuer BR (1986) Social, toxicological and meteorological data on suicide attempts. Eur Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 235:367–370

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chiu LP (1988) Do weather, day of the week, and address affect the rate of attempted suicide in Hong Kong? Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 23:229–235

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ciucci E, Calussi P, Menesini E, Mattei A, Petralli M, Orlandini S (2011) Weather daily variation in winter and its effect on behavior and affective states in day-care children. Int J Biometeorol 55:327–337. doi:10.1007/s00484-010-0340-2

    Google Scholar 

  • Deisenhammer EA (2003) Weather and suicide: the present state of knowledge on the association of meteorological factors with suicidal behaviour. Acta Psychiatr Scand 108:402–409

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dexter EG (1904) Chapter XI: Suicide and the weather. In: Weather influences: an empirical study of the mental and physiological effects of definite meteorological conditions. MacMillan, New York, pp 198–218

  • Dharmshaktu P, Tayal V, Kalra BS (2012) Efficacy of antidepressants as analgesics: a review. J Clin Pharmacol 52:6–17. doi:10.1177/0091270010394852

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon PG, Kalkstein AJ (2009) Climate–suicide relationships: a research problem in need of geographic methods and cross-disciplinary perspectives. Geogr Compass 3:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eklundh T, Fernstrom V, Nordin C (1994) Influence of tapping-time and atmospheric pressure on concentrations of monoamine metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid: a prospective study in female volunteers. J Psychiatr Res 28:511–517

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eklundh T, Gunnarsson T, Ornhagen H, Nordin C (2000) Cerebrospinal fluid levels of monoamine compounds and cholecystokinin peptides after exposure to standardized barometric pressure. Aviat Space Environ Med 71:1131–1136

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Migdadi F, Nusier M, Bashir N (2000) Seasonal pattern of leutinizing, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone and progesterone in adult population of both sexes in the Jordan Valley. Endocr Res 26:41–48

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Funakubo M, Sato J, Honda T, Mizumura K (2010) The inner ear is involved in the aggravation of nociceptive behavior induced by lowering barometric pressure of nerve injured rats. Eur J Pain 14:32–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funakubo M, Sato J, Obata K, Mizumura K (2011) The rate and magnitude of atmospheric pressure change that aggravate pain-related behavior of nerve injured rats. Int J Biometeorol 55:319–326. doi:10.1007/s00484-010-0339-8

    Google Scholar 

  • Germain A, Kupfer DJ (2008) Circadian rhythm disturbances in depression. Hum Psychopharmacol 23:571–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez MM, Aston-Jones G (2008) Light deprivation damages monoamine neurons and produces a depressive behavioral phenotype in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:4898–4903

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gooley JJ (2008) Treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders with light. Ann Acad Med Singapore 37:669–676

    Google Scholar 

  • Haukka J, Suominen K, Partonen T, Lonnqvist J (2008) Determinants and outcomes of serious attempted suicide: a nationwide study in Finland, 1996-2003. Am J Epidemiol 167:1155–1163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heilig M, Mansson JE, Blennow K (1996) Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites and atmospheric pressure. Biol Psychiatry 39:299–301

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • HENDIN H (1965) Cross-cultural studies. Psychiatry Dig Jan 25–34

  • Henriksson MM, Aro HM, Marttunen MJ, Heikkinen ME, Isometsa ET, Kuoppasalmi KI, Lonnqvist JK (1993) Mental disorders and comorbidity in suicide. Am J Psychiatry 150:935–940

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hiltunen L, Suominen K, Lonnqvist J, Partonen T (2011) Relationship between daylength and suicide in Finland. J Circadian Rhythms 9:10. doi:10.1186/1740-3391-9-10

  • Huibers MJ, de Graaf LE, Peeters FP, Arntz A (2010) Does the weather make us sad? Meteorological determinants of mood and depression in the general population. Psychiatry Res 180:143–146. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2009.09.016

    Google Scholar 

  • Huttunen P, Kortelainen ML (1990) Long-term alcohol consumption and brown adipose tissue in man. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 60:418–24

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huynen MM, Martens P, Schram D, Weijenberg MP, Kunst AE (2001) The impact of heat waves and cold spells on mortality rates in the Dutch population. Environ Health Perspect 109(5):463–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kent ST, McClure LA, Crosson WL, Arnett DK, Wadley VG, Sathiakumar N (2009) Effect of sunlight exposure on cognitive function among depressed and non-depressed participants: a REGARDS cross-sectional study. Environ Health 8:34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert GW, Reid C, Kaye DM, Jennings GL, Esler MD (2002) Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. Lancet 360:1840–1842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lambert G, Reid C, Kaye D, Jennings G, Esler M (2003) Increased suicide rate in the middle-aged and its association with hours of sunlight. Am J Psychiatry 160:793–795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee HC, Lin HC, Tsai SY, Li CY, Chen CC, Huang CC (2006) Suicide rates and the association with climate: a population-based study. J Affect Disord 92:221–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lester D (1986) Suicide and homicide rates: their relationship to latitude and longitude and to the weather. Suicide Life Threat Behav 16(3):356–9

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lester D, Frank ML (1988) Sex differences in the seasonal distribution of suicides. Br J Psychiatry 153:115–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maes M, De Meyer F, Thompson P, Peeters D, Cosyns P (1994) Synchronized annual rhythms in violent suicide rate, ambient temperature and the light-dark span. Acta Psychiatr Scand 90:391–396

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Majercak J, Sidote D, Hardin PE, Edery I (1999) How a circadian clock adapts to seasonal decreases in temperature and day length. Neuron 24:219–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado G, Kraus JF (1991) Variation in suicide occurrence by time of day, day of the week, month, and lunar phase. Suicide Life Threat Behav 21(2):174–87

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meares R, Mendelsohn FA, Milgrom-Friedman J (1981) A sex difference in the seasonal variation of suicide rate: a single cycle for men, two cycles for women. Br J Psychiatry 138:321–325

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Messlinger K, Funakubo M, Sato J, Mizumura K (2010) Increases in neuronal activity in rat spinal trigeminal nucleus following changes in barometric pressure–relevance for weather-associated headaches? Headache 50:1449–1463. doi:10.1111/j.1526-4610.2010.01716.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Micciolo R, Zimmermann-Tansella C, Williams P, Tansella M (1989) Seasonal variation in suicide: is there a sex difference? Psychol Med 19:199–203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mills CA (1934) Suicides and homicides in their relation to weather changes. Am J Psychiatry 91:669–677

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteleone P, Maj M (2008) The circadian basis of mood disorders: recent developments and treatment implications. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 18:701–711

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nordentoft M, Branner J (2008) Gender differences in suicidal intent and choice of method among suicide attempters. Crisis 29:209–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordin C, Swedin A, Zachau A (1992) CSF 5-HIAA and atmospheric pressure. Biol Psychiatry 31:644–645

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nordstrom P, Samuelsson M, Asberg M, Traskman-Bendz L, Aberg-Wistedt A, Nordin C, Bertilsson L (1994) CSF 5-HIAA predicts suicide risk after attempted suicide. Suicide Life Threat Behav 24:1–9

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Owens D, Horrocks J, House A (2002) Fatal and non-fatal repetition of self-harm. Systematic review. Br J Psychiatry 181:193–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page LA, Hajat S, Kovats RS (2007) Relationship between daily suicide counts and temperature in England and Wales. Br J Psychiatry 191:106–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partonen T, Haukka J, Pirkola S, Isometsa E, Lonnqvist J (2004) Time patterns and seasonal mismatch in suicide. Acta Psychiatr Scand 109:110–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Petridou E, Papadopoulos FC, Frangakis CE, Skalkidou A, Trichopoulos D (2002) A role of sunshine in the triggering of suicide. Epidemiology 13:106–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirkola S, Isometsa E, Heikkinen M, Lonnqvist J (1997) Employment status influences the weekly patterns of suicide among alcohol misusers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 21(9):1704–6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Preti A (1998) The influence of climate on suicidal behaviour in Italy. Psychiatry Res 78:9–19

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Preti A, Miotto P (2000) Influence of method on seasonal distribution of attempted suicides in italy. Neuropsychobiology 41:62–72

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qin P, Agerbo E, Mortensen PB (2003) Suicide risk in relation to socioeconomic, demographic, psychiatric, and familial factors: a national register-based study of all suicides in Denmark, 1981–1997. Am J Psychiatry 160:765–772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocchi MB, Sisti D, Miotto P, Preti A (2007) Seasonality of suicide: relationship with the reason for suicide. Neuropsychobiology 56:86–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roenneberg T, Kumar CJ, Merrow M (2007) The human circadian clock entrains to sun time. Curr Biol 17:R44–5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ruuhela R, Hiltunen L, Venalainen A, Pirinen P, Partonen T (2009) Climate impact on suicide rates in Finland from 1971 to 2003. Int J Biometeorol 53:167–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salib E, Gray N (1997) Weather conditions and fatal self-harm in North Cheshire 1989–1993. Br J Psychiatry 171:473–477

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sato J, Aoyama M, Yamazaki M, Okumura S, Takahashi K, Funakubo M, Mizumura K (2004) Artificially produced meteorological changes aggravate pain in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. Neurosci Lett 354:46–49

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schory TJ, Piecznski N, Nair S, el-Mallakh RS (2003) Barometric pressure, emergency psychiatric visits, and violent acts. Can J Psychiatry 48(9):624–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair JM, Hawton K, Gray A (2010) Six year follow-up of a clinical sample of self-harm patients. J Affect Disord 121:247–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souetre E, Salvati E, Belugou JL, Douillet P, Braccini T, Darcourt G (1987) Seasonality of suicides: environmental, sociological and biological covariations. J Affect Disord 13:215–225

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Souetre E, Wehr TA, Douillet P, Darcourt G (1990) Influence of environmental factors on suicidal behavior. Psychiatry Res 32:253–263

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Souetre E, Salvati E, Candito M, Darcourt G (1991) Biological clocks in depression: phase-shift experiments revisited. Eur Psychiatry 6:21–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoupel E, Petrauskiene J, Kalediene R, Abramson E, Sulkes J (1995) Clinical cosmobiology: the Lithuanian study 1990–1992. Int J Biometeorol 38:204–208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suokas J, Suominen K, Isometsa E, Ostamo A, Lonnqvist J (2001) Long-term risk factors for suicide mortality after attempted suicide—findings of a 14-year follow-up study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 104:117–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suominen K, Henriksson M, Suokas J, Isometsa E, Ostamo A, Lonnqvist J (1996) Mental disorders and comorbidity in attempted suicide. Acta Psychiatr Scand 94:234–240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suominen K, Isometsa E, Suokas J, Haukka J, Achte K, Lonnqvist J (2004) Completed suicide after a suicide attempt: a 37-year follow-up study. Am J Psychiatry 161:562–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai JF (2010) Socioeconomic factors outweigh climate in the regional difference of suicide death rate in Taiwan. Psychiatry Res 179:212–216. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.06.044

  • Valtonen H, Suominen K, Partonen T, Ostamo A, Lonnqvist J (2006) Time patterns of attempted suicide. J Affect Disord 90:201–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang YT, Wang D, Wang XY (1997) Suicide and meteorological factors in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia. Crisis 18:115–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wehr TA, Rosenthal NE (1989) Seasonality and affective illness. Am J Psychiatry 146:829–839

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yan YY (2000) Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXXXIX. The influence of weather on suicide in Hong Kong. Percept Mot Skills 91:571–577

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yip PS, Yang KC (2004) A comparison of seasonal variation between suicide deaths and attempts in Hong Kong SAR. J Affect Disord 81:251–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finnish National Graduate School for Clinical Investigation, and Finnish Graduate School of Psychiatry allocated scholarships (to L.H.) for this project but had no further role in study design. We thank Dr. Jari Haukka from the National Institute of Health and Welfare for the statistical advice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    Laura Hiltunen, Aini Ostamo, Jouko Lönnqvist, Kirsi Suominen & Timo Partonen

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Laura Hiltunen, Jouko Lönnqvist & Kirsi Suominen

  3. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Reija Ruuhela

  4. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, PO Box 30, FI-00271, Helsinki, Finland

    Laura Hiltunen

Authors
  1. Laura Hiltunen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Reija Ruuhela
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aini Ostamo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jouko Lönnqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kirsi Suominen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Timo Partonen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Hiltunen.

Electronic Supplementary Materials

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary table 1

Daily distribution of suicide attempts during cluster weeks in each season, shown separately for women (W) and men (M). (DOC 34 kb)

ESM 1

(DOC 39 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hiltunen, L., Ruuhela, R., Ostamo, A. et al. Atmospheric pressure and suicide attempts in Helsinki, Finland. Int J Biometeorol 56, 1045–1053 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-011-0518-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-011-0518-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation