Climate change could increase the suicide rate
A new study exposes the possible implications of climate change on our mental health.
The study, developed by experts at Stanford University (USA), predicts a new side effect of climate change: the increase in the suicide rate.
Unfortunately, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. They are more numerous than homicides.
In fact, according to the authors of the new study, "Only suicide causes more deaths worldwide than all forms of interpersonal and intergroup violence combined."
Despite these shocking statistics, suicide is still little known; It is complex, multifaceted and deeply personal. The investigation of the factors involved is urgent but challenging.
Suicide and temperature
Over the years, some researchers have concluded that suicide rates peaked in the warmer months, particularly in late spring and early summer. However, not all studies have identified this subtle effect.
Of course, the temperatures increase during the summer, but the heat itself may not be the determining factor; There may be other seasonal factors to consider, for example, unemployment.
In an attempt to shed some light on this issue, a team led by economist Marshall Burke of Stanford University in California compared suicide rates with temperature records from thousands of US counties. UU and Mexican municipalities for several decades.
They also immersed themselves in the vast treasure trove of data that Twitter can provide. They examined about 600 million tweets, looking for messages that contained words like "suicidal", "trapped" and "lonely".
The analysis confirmed that the warmer weather seemed to increase the suicide rate and the level of depressive language used on Twitter.
The impact of climate change
For the next phase of their research, scientists wanted to gain a better understanding of how climate change might influence suicide rates. To do this, they looked at the estimated temperature changes of global climate models.
They concluded that with the temperature increase in 2050 it could increase suicide rates by 1.4% in the US. and 2.3% in Mexico. The authors estimate that uncontrolled climate change could "result in a combined 9,000-40,000 additional suicides in the US and Mexico by 2050."
"We have been studying the effects of warming on conflict and violence for years, discovering that people fight more when it's hot, now we see that besides hurting others, some people also hurt themselves. to the human mind and how we decided to inflict damage, "concludes Solomon Hsiang, co-author of the study, in the journal Nature Climate Change that publishes the work.
The authors wish to make it clear that climate change is not directly causing an increase in suicides. However, an increase in temperature can increase the risk of an individual deciding to harm themselves.
"Clearly, high temperatures are not the only, or most important, risk factor for suicide, but our findings suggest that warming can have a surprisingly large impact on the risk of suicide, and this is important to our understanding of mental health as for what we should expect as temperatures continue to heat up, "says Burke.
The study, developed by experts at Stanford University (USA), predicts a new side effect of climate change: the increase in the suicide rate.
Unfortunately, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. They are more numerous than homicides.
In fact, according to the authors of the new study, "Only suicide causes more deaths worldwide than all forms of interpersonal and intergroup violence combined."
Despite these shocking statistics, suicide is still little known; It is complex, multifaceted and deeply personal. The investigation of the factors involved is urgent but challenging.
Suicide and temperature
Over the years, some researchers have concluded that suicide rates peaked in the warmer months, particularly in late spring and early summer. However, not all studies have identified this subtle effect.
Of course, the temperatures increase during the summer, but the heat itself may not be the determining factor; There may be other seasonal factors to consider, for example, unemployment.
In an attempt to shed some light on this issue, a team led by economist Marshall Burke of Stanford University in California compared suicide rates with temperature records from thousands of US counties. UU and Mexican municipalities for several decades.
They also immersed themselves in the vast treasure trove of data that Twitter can provide. They examined about 600 million tweets, looking for messages that contained words like "suicidal", "trapped" and "lonely".
The analysis confirmed that the warmer weather seemed to increase the suicide rate and the level of depressive language used on Twitter.
The impact of climate change
For the next phase of their research, scientists wanted to gain a better understanding of how climate change might influence suicide rates. To do this, they looked at the estimated temperature changes of global climate models.
They concluded that with the temperature increase in 2050 it could increase suicide rates by 1.4% in the US. and 2.3% in Mexico. The authors estimate that uncontrolled climate change could "result in a combined 9,000-40,000 additional suicides in the US and Mexico by 2050."
"We have been studying the effects of warming on conflict and violence for years, discovering that people fight more when it's hot, now we see that besides hurting others, some people also hurt themselves. to the human mind and how we decided to inflict damage, "concludes Solomon Hsiang, co-author of the study, in the journal Nature Climate Change that publishes the work.
The authors wish to make it clear that climate change is not directly causing an increase in suicides. However, an increase in temperature can increase the risk of an individual deciding to harm themselves.
"Clearly, high temperatures are not the only, or most important, risk factor for suicide, but our findings suggest that warming can have a surprisingly large impact on the risk of suicide, and this is important to our understanding of mental health as for what we should expect as temperatures continue to heat up, "says Burke.
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