Mental Health

In a study led by Shaked Yarza (Yarza et al, 2020), we examined the association between ambient temperature and suicidal behavior using all suicide attempts admitted to Soroka University Medical Center between 2002 and 2017. Using a time-stratified case-crossover design and time-series analyses, we assessed both short-term and cumulative temperature effects while accounting for seasonality and individual differences. We found that higher temperatures were associated with increased risk of suicide attempts, particularly in summer, where a 5°C increase was linked to higher odds of attempts (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.22–2.08). The risk was also higher among individuals with previous suicide attempts, and cumulative temperature increases over 2–5 days were associated with a gradual rise in subsequent attempts.