Unexamined Epidemiology [Clapping For Credit]
[Warning: Discussion of suicide]
It’s that time of year again, which means that I’m back in graduate school studying for my public health degree. As part of the lineup for this semester, I have an epidemiology class. About halfway through a lecture on descriptive vs. analytic epidemiology, my professor puts this graph up.
Suicide By Time of the Year - Residents of Sacramento County, CA (1925-1983)*
“Epidemiology is about asking questions,” the professor then said, ”so what do you think is behind the surprisingly low number of suicides during December?” Their answer: Suicides are less likely to occur during December because people are not alone (which is a depressing state of affairs) and are in the company of loving family members who make them feel like life is once again worth living.
Thus, what I learned today (i.e. dismally unexamined assumptions):
1.) Being alone leads to suicidal depression.
2.) Families are composed of loving people.
3.) People have families to which to go home during holidays.
4.) People follow Judeo-Christian traditions and therefore have family occasions during December.
So much for asking questions. ::Headdesk::
* Maldonado G et al., Suicide Life Threat Behav 1991 Summer;21(2):174-87.
