Seasonal Surge for Mental Health Demand in Emergency Departments.

Objective: To analyze emergency department (ED) mental health presentations over a 7-year period to estimate the timing and magnitude of the seasonal effect across Australia.Methods: We analyzed data collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) from 2014-2015 to 2020-2021, which included all public hospital ED presentations in Australia that received a mental health diagnosis per the Australian Modification of ICD-10. The data were divided into 4 sequential quarters (Q1 = July-September, Q2 = October-December, Q3 = January-March, Q4 = April-June) and analyzed by sex and age (youth: 18-24 years, adult: 25-64 years, and older adult: > 65 years). Regression analysis was used to assess seasonal variation.Results: On average, mental health ED presentations were 9% higher in October-December than April-June, which had the lowest rates of mental health ED presentations for males and females. The peak continued into January-March, most prominently for females. Seasonality was evident in the 18-24 and 25-64 age groups. There were increased ED psychiatry presentations in October-December of 14.4% (males) and 9% (females) in the group aged 18-24, as well as increases of 10.3% (males) and 10.1% (females) in those aged 25-64. In January-March, there was an increase in presentations for females of 7% (aged 18-24) and 10.3% (aged 25-64). For adults aged > 65, there were increased presentations in July-September compared to April-June of 4.9% (males) and 3.9% (females).Conclusions: We found strong, statistically significant peaks in mental health ED presentations in spring and summer. Mental health services need to plan for significantly higher ED mental health demand during these seasons. Further research is required to estimate the size of the mental health seasonal effect in acute hospital settings.Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2024;26(1):23m03629. Author affiliations are listed at the end of this article.

An Umbrella Systematic Review of Seasonality in Mood Disorders and Suicide Risk: The Impact on Demand for Primary Behavioral Health Care and Acute Psychiatric Services.

Objective: To review the current literature focusing on the most recent systematic reviews relating to mood, suicide, and psychiatric service utilization.Study Selection and Data Extraction: A systematic literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases using the search terms "Systematic review" AND "season*" AND mood OR depression OR bipolar OR psychosis OR suicid* OR psychiatr* initially yielded 209 results. After screening by title and abstract for relevance, 6 records remained, while a further 3 were identified after screening of reference lists. A qualitative synthesis of these results was then performed due to data heterogeneity between studies.Results: We found evidence of winter peaks for depressive symptoms and suggestions of summer peaks for suicidal activity, emergency department (ED) self-harm presentations, and manic-related hospital admissions. Suicide is 11%-23% more frequent in spring and summer. ED suicide attempts are also 1.2-1.7 times higher in spring and summer compared to winter. Admissions for mania are 7.4%-16% higher in spring and summer, while there are 1.5 times more admissions for bipolar depression in winter months.Conclusions: There is a summer peak for many aspects of mental health activity, particularly in terms of acute hospital utilization and suicidality. This is contrary to the winter-related peak of depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to affirm these findings.