A study by Karin Sparring Björkstén from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden provided an interesting insight into the possibility of a connection between suicide and excessive daylight.

Greenland has the world’s highest suicide rate, and in its northern part, where the sun doesn’t set between April and August, suicide occurs more frequently, especially among young men.

In the report, “Accentuation of Suicides but Not Homicides with Rising Latitudes of Greenland in the Sunny Months,” (published in the BMC Psychiatry Journal) researchers speculate that people often do not get enough sleep to sustain mental health because the constant daylight disrupts their internal clock.

In addition, levels of serotonin, a natural brain chemical that plays a role in regulating mood may be decreased.  This combined with sleep deprivation could cause what the researchers refer to as, “difficulties in adaptation.”

The research points to a possible relationship between excessive sunlight, weakened serotonin levels, difficulties in adaptation and violent suicide, although no definitive proof has been offered. There is a possibility that other factors are responsible for the increase in suicide during the sunny months, however the evidence is intriguing.

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