Tintypographer
I am done as of 4-21-2023. Somewhere I am no more
- Apr 29, 2020
- 470
A study in the UK was performed on the number of Reddit posts to suicide forums:
bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com
The article, which has the methods, statistics and margin of error in the documentation, shows that there is a leak of suicide posts on Mondays and that the posts further show highest percentage in the hours before dawn in very early mornings.
From the author's findings:
Monday was associated with the highest SW posting levels compared to other days of the week. The trend over weekly cycles closely follows weekly suicide risk patterns reported by most previous studies, with a peak on Monday, a decreasing risk over the course of the week [23], and the lowest incidence at the weekends [24]. Therefore the weekly cycle analysis provides face validity that relevant social media postings may track the days most associated with suicide risk.
The diurnal variation in SW posting that we present is as markedly compelling as a biological phenomenon such as diurnal cycling of cortisol levels – a hormone well-known for its effect on mood [25]. Most strikingly the volume of SW Reddit posts peak immediately prior to hours of the day when suicide attempts and suicide incidence are at their highest in many countries. This raises the possibility that posting at such times could be averting a crisis for some individuals, or that this could be a time when interventions might be made more accessible.
Given that the timing of most SW posts is in the early hours of the morning (peak 05:00 h), contrasting with the highest volume of AskReddit posts being in the late evening (peak 21:00 h), sleep disturbance may represent one potential modifiable risk factor both for suicidal thoughts being expressed through social media and suicidal behaviours [26, 27]. From a clinical standpoint, patients experiencing insomnia in the early hours are much more able to identify when they have an issue with their sleep [28] and can be more willing to reveal this to their doctors than a potential mental health concern [29]. Given that greater social media use has been shown to be significantly associated with disturbed sleep [30, 31] as well as anxiety, depression and low self-esteem [32, 33] this may be a useful emerging area when recording the history of patients with a mental health issue. Therefore reducing specific night-time social media use might be a focus of targeted psychological interventions for some individuals.
I am only making correlations without any cause or recommended solution but it seems that one conclusion could be that there is actually a strong need for communication, therapy, "reaching out to others" and validation for people under stress in the middle of the night before the work week begins. Thus lots of exhausted, depressed and emotionally vulnerable people with fears and depression are likely logging into the only outlet they have (online) and posting what they are scared of and how they feel suicidal.
A question I have is whether or not the mental health organizations, crisis groups and well-intended helplines are staffed and ready to go and be empathetic at 3 am on Monday mornings?
Temporal and diurnal variation in social media posts to a suicide support forum - BMC Psychiatry
Background Rates of suicide attempts and deaths are highest on Mondays and these occur more frequently in the morning or early afternoon, suggesting weekly temporal and diurnal variation in suicidal behaviour. It is unknown whether there are similar time trends on social media, of posts relevant...
bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com
The article, which has the methods, statistics and margin of error in the documentation, shows that there is a leak of suicide posts on Mondays and that the posts further show highest percentage in the hours before dawn in very early mornings.
From the author's findings:
Monday was associated with the highest SW posting levels compared to other days of the week. The trend over weekly cycles closely follows weekly suicide risk patterns reported by most previous studies, with a peak on Monday, a decreasing risk over the course of the week [23], and the lowest incidence at the weekends [24]. Therefore the weekly cycle analysis provides face validity that relevant social media postings may track the days most associated with suicide risk.
The diurnal variation in SW posting that we present is as markedly compelling as a biological phenomenon such as diurnal cycling of cortisol levels – a hormone well-known for its effect on mood [25]. Most strikingly the volume of SW Reddit posts peak immediately prior to hours of the day when suicide attempts and suicide incidence are at their highest in many countries. This raises the possibility that posting at such times could be averting a crisis for some individuals, or that this could be a time when interventions might be made more accessible.
Given that the timing of most SW posts is in the early hours of the morning (peak 05:00 h), contrasting with the highest volume of AskReddit posts being in the late evening (peak 21:00 h), sleep disturbance may represent one potential modifiable risk factor both for suicidal thoughts being expressed through social media and suicidal behaviours [26, 27]. From a clinical standpoint, patients experiencing insomnia in the early hours are much more able to identify when they have an issue with their sleep [28] and can be more willing to reveal this to their doctors than a potential mental health concern [29]. Given that greater social media use has been shown to be significantly associated with disturbed sleep [30, 31] as well as anxiety, depression and low self-esteem [32, 33] this may be a useful emerging area when recording the history of patients with a mental health issue. Therefore reducing specific night-time social media use might be a focus of targeted psychological interventions for some individuals.
I am only making correlations without any cause or recommended solution but it seems that one conclusion could be that there is actually a strong need for communication, therapy, "reaching out to others" and validation for people under stress in the middle of the night before the work week begins. Thus lots of exhausted, depressed and emotionally vulnerable people with fears and depression are likely logging into the only outlet they have (online) and posting what they are scared of and how they feel suicidal.
A question I have is whether or not the mental health organizations, crisis groups and well-intended helplines are staffed and ready to go and be empathetic at 3 am on Monday mornings?
