While people might assume suicide is more common in the darker months of winter, it actually peaks in spring and early summer.

Researchers investigating what’s happening have found that suicidal thoughts peak in December but then take a few months to reach a “tipping point.” People are also most vulnerable to ending their lives between 4 and 5 a.m., according to a new study.

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Suicides among the youngest U.S. teenagers were rising for years before the pandemic — with school stress, social media and guns standing as potential factors, according to a new study.

Researchers found that between 2008 and 2018, the suicide rate among 13- and 14-year-olds nationwide more than doubled — from roughly two deaths per 100,000 teens in 2008, to five per 100,000 a decade later.

It was a stark reversal of a decline that began in the late-1990s.

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According to University of Alabama law professor Fred Vars, "In 2020, there were 66 gun suicides every day, which is more people than died in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. And we don't see it. You know, it doesn't make the news. It happens one person at a time. Unless it's a celebrity, we just don't hear about it."

But Vars is trying to change that, raising awareness while pushing for new gun legislation. He says there is "absolutely" a correlation between stricter gun laws and fewer suicides. He's working with Katrina Brees on legislation called Donna's Law, named after her mother. It would allow potential gun buyers to put themselves on a "do not sell" list.

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On a crisp, sunny day in Seattle, DJ John Richards is fielding music requests from listeners and also sharing their stories on air. They are darker than the day — deeply personal, emotional, and gut-wrenching accounts of their struggles with depression, anxiety, grief, and more. 

Hundreds of messages flood in via text, email, and social media. It’s a Music Heals day, one of three to four such days the nonprofit radio station KEXP hosts every year as part of its programming that addresses these and other serious issues head on. This one is for people grappling with their mental health. Others are specifically geared toward addiction, grief, and coping with cancer. People share that they’re trying to stay sober. They’re the adult survivors of child abuse. Some are coping with suicidal thoughts. Others are trying to get help for children with mental illness. 

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