Are Holiday Suicide Rates Higher? (Video 1:33)

The annual excitement building up from Thanksgiving through the Christmas season is commonly believed to ignite depressive feelings in people who may feel despondent, on the outside observing the joy of others. Some may conclude that more people probably commit suicide during this time of year. Is this true?

Let’s examine one form of suicide that includes ingesting poison as a way to end life. Do particular days of the week, seasons, or holidays really have an impact on the number of attempted and completed suicides that occur by poisoning? In this research on poison suicides, calls were recorded in the National Poison Database System coded as "suspected suicide." Exposures were evaluated by day, season, and holidays and compared to control dates.There were 1,065,067 exposures related to suicide attempts with completions in 0.4% of cases. Sundays and Mondays for adults and Mondays and Tuesdays for ages below 19 years were the most common times when suicides were committed. Spring and fall had higher numbers of exposures than summer and winter. New Year's Day also had a higher number of exposures, but Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas had fewer exposures. In conclusion, this research on suicides by poisons indicated that the beginning of the week, spring and fall, and New Year's Day were associated with higher numbers of ingestions with suicidal intent.

What about suicides in general and globally? Once again, the suicide rate does not peak during the holidays. Suicides are most common in spring and summer. Why do people kill themselves more in the spring? The following video explains this phenomenon further:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Older Veterans and Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease (Research, Video 4:47)

As more research continues in the area of dementia, health consequences of environmental exposures during military service become more evident. Older veterans display long-term health risks associated with military service. Military risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease include tobacco use, traumatic brain injury (TBI), depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) obesity, and obesity-related diseases. The degree of combat exposure, Vietnam era Agent Orange exposure, and Gulf War Illness may also influence risk for Alzheimer’s disease

Research on veterans and Alzheimer’s disease reports conservative estimates of 423,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease in veterans by 2020, including 140,000 excess cases associated with specific military exposures that will cost approximately $5.8 billion to $7.8 billion. Programs focused on decreasing these risk factors and lowering rates of Alzheimer’s decease in veterans in the future are greatly needed.

New research shows a link between older veterans who had a traumatic brain injury and an increased risk of dementia. This CBS video features Dr. Jennifer Ashton profiling a young Afghanistan veteran named Nick Colgin.  The connection between dementia, Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in veterans is explained.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Ethics of Dying (Video 2:18)

People don’t die like they used to die. They live longer with illnesses that progress while technology keeps them alive. Questions are asked about taking the technology too far or not far enough. Family members argue about extending loved ones’ lives as the inevitable approaches. Some question if the burdens of dying are worth the benefits from extending life. Can death be wrestled to the ground and lose to earthly inventions? What about cost factors, legalities, and societal impacts?

As the population ages, there will be a 50% increase in cancer cases over the next 20 years. With more and more technical advances, older adults with advanced cancer, their caregivers, and healthcare providers are confronted with circumstances in which medical advances may inadvertently extend dying and suffering rather than bring healing.

Spirituality often comes up during these times, and assistance from members of the healthcare team may be needed to resolve important ethical concerns. Spiritualty and religion can play significant roles in oncology and in survivorship. Many patients and caregivers rely on them when choosing therapies and aggressive or less aggressive end-of-life care.

Palliative care includes many ethical issues. Is there an ethical limit to prolonging life? In this video, Dr. Ira Byock, palliative care physician and chief medical officer of the Providence Institute for Human Caring, addresses the ethics of prolonging life:

Health care blogs like mine and health care websites can be persuasive. They are used by many to impact the thoughts and actions of others. Is one more persuasive than the other? Here’s what the research says: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/health-blogs-vs-websites-frances-shani-parker?trk=mp-reader-card

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Asexuality: Biological Markers and Older Adults (Research, Video 2:16)

Asexuality has only become scientifically researched as a sexual orientation in recent years. For those who are not familiar with the term, it refers to people who intrinsically have never had any interest in sex or sexual attraction to others. Several biological markers of asexuality have been determined through an Internet research study investigating the relationship between self-identification as asexual and specific biological markers. This study is important because it is one of the first studies to test and provide preliminary empirical support for an underlying neurodevelopmental basis to account for the lack of sexual attraction characteristic of asexuality.

A total of 325 asexuals (60 men and 265 women), 690 heterosexuals (190 men and 500 women), and 268 non-heterosexuals (homosexual and bisexual; 64 men and 204 women) completed online questionnaires with these results:

1)   Asexual men and women were 2.4 and 2.5 times more likely to be non-right-handed than their heterosexual counterparts.

2)   Asexual and non-heterosexual men were more likely to be later-born than heterosexual men.

3)   Asexual women were more likely to be earlier-born than non-heterosexual women.

Regarding older adult asexuals, the media focus is predominantly on younger asexuals. These older adults have a more difficult time finding support and resources they need. They have unique issues adjusting to a predominantly heterosexual sex-oriented society. Some have the need to “come out of the closet” and explain their identity in order for others to understand them better. Others may feel ashamed, isolated, or confused because they are different from what society conveys as normal sexuality. They are a diverse community with people experiencing relationships in various ways. For example, some may experience close relationships with sexual or asexual partners, although the asexual partners have no sexual attraction. Emotional or romantic attraction is not the same as sexual attraction.

Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) hosts the world's largest online asexual community and a large archive of resources on asexuality. This video features asexuals sharing their experiences:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog