The sun is out, the greenery is lush and life seems to bursting with sheer abundance. How could anyone be down during the heady, cheerful days of summer?
The truth is, we can.
There’s a persistent myth that suicide rates are highest around Christmas. People who are alone or experience strain when their family is reunited struggle with the holidays, the thinking goes. And while it’s true that depression rates increase around the holidays, suicides actually decrease at that time, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) states.
Suicide rates are highest in late July and August, according to the CMHA.
And while most people believe Seasonal Affective Disorder strikes only during the long, dark winter months, there is also a lesser-known variant that manifests in the summer.
While many of us may want to cloister ourselves in cottage life and forget about the outside world, summer is as important a time as any to reach out to those we know and be watchful for signs of mental illness.
Step one is talking about it openly. If you notice changes in things like eating and sleeping patterns or any sort of social withdrawal in friends or loved ones, ask questions. Seek out some face time.
No season provides immunity from mental health issues; open dialogue, on the other hand, is one of the best tools we have at any time of year.
