Evidence for Lack of Change in Seasonality of Suicide from Timiş County, Romania

Abstract

Evidence from politically and socially stable countries in Northern Europe and the Southern Hemisphere indicates a marked decrease in the seasonality of suicide over the past two decades. Generalizability of this trend to societies in transition has not yet been investigated. Data for suicide by hanging in Timiş County of Romania show both a nondecrease in seasonality of suicide for the current transitional period (1990–98), relative to the last decade of the Communist regime (1980–89) and shifts in location for suicide peak and trough months. Recent decreases in the seasonality of suicide might not generalize to societies in transition, and research would improve from focusing on the “natural laboratories” these societies represent.