The May edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which analyzed Google queries, tells us that mental illnesses are more common in winter. Indeed, research related to mental illness drops dramatically during the summer. But, not all mental disorders have the same seasonality curves.
Thanks to Google, databases on the evolution of mental illnesses are easier to set up. Indeed, telephone surveys on mental disorders are expensive and not very reliable. “But the Internet could change that,” says lead author Dr. John W. Ayers of San Diego State University. “By tracking and analyzing online research, we are able to better understand demographic trends in mental health. “.
By relying on public information from the queries on Google, the researchers were able to identify and then analyze the mental disorder queries of American and Australian Internet users from 2006 to 2010.
All questions relating to mental health have been grouped by type of disorder including ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. , OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), schizophrenia, and suicidal tendency.
In conclusion, scientists find that queries about mental illnesses in the United States and Australians are consistently higher in winter than in summer.
With each trouble, its season
• Research on eating disorders decreases by 37% in summer compared to winter in the United States and by 42% in Australia,
• inquiries about schizophrenia decrease by 36-7% during the summer in the 2 countries,
• questions on bipolar disorder decrease by 16-7% during the summer in the 2 countries,
• ADHD requests decrease by 28% / 31% respectively during the summer in the United States and Australia
• research on OCD is reduced by 18% / 15%,
• queries on suicide drop by 24% / 29% during the summer,
Mental disorders and weather
The relationships between weather-related mental illnesses sometimes seem surprising even to researchers: “We did not expect to find similar peaks and troughs and our results show seasonal effects that are certainly different but for all conditions”.
For scientists, this implies the question of a preventive seasonal treatment!
