Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica
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Acta Psychiatr Scand · Jun 1999
Multicenter StudyAttempted suicide and major public holidays in Europe: findings from the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide.
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between suicide attempts and major public holidays in Europe. ⋯ There appears to be a transposition of a significant number of suicide attempts from before (and during) a major public holiday until after it. The division of holidays into non-working and working days showed that a 'holiday effect' could only be found around major public holidays, particularly Christmas, Easter and Whitsun. These findings support the theory of the 'broken-promise effect' for major public holidays.