A suicide peak after weekends and holidays in patients with alcohol dependence

This paper analyzes the variation of suicide by day of the week in alcohol dependence, with public holidays taken into consideration. From 1949 through 1960, 1,312 patients with alcohol dependence were admitted to the Department of Psychiatry in Lund. By 1997, a total of 102 (99 men) alcoholic patients had taken their own life. Suicide victims with severe depression and other diagnoses were compared. There was a suicide peak on the first two days after weekends and holidays in patients with alcohol dependence (p < .05). Alcohol withdrawal is proposed as a contributor to the suicide peak.