International Coverage: The mind after midnight: Study shows disrupted sleep increases risk for suicide and homicide

Researchers conducted an analysis of 15 years of national data on suicides and homicides and found that nocturnal wakefulness could be a contributing factor in both.

Nocturnal wakefulness is associated with death by both suicide and homicide, possibly driven by deficits in behavioral and emotional regulation.

Nearly 19% of suicides and 36% of homicides occur at night. Suicide and homicide share little in common, but their highly concordant overnight risk patterns suggest a common feature: nocturnal wakefulness.

“Disrupted sleep may acutely impair rational thought, which can drive impulsive behaviors in vulnerable individuals,” said first author Andrew Tubbs, MD, PhD, a researcher in the Sleep and Health Research Program at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Psychiatry. “Our analysis of 15 years of data across the U.S. showed that there is a fivefold greater risk for suicide and an eightfold greater risk for homicide between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. when adjusting for the number of people who are awake and capable of suicide or homicide.”

The paper, “Risk for Suicide and Homicide Peaks at Night: Findings From the National Violent Death Reporting System, 35 States, 2003–2017,” was published May 29 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

“The fact that these overnight risk patterns apply to both suicide and homicide is striking,” said the study’s senior author, Michael Grandner, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic and a BIO5 Institute member. “In our review of more than 78,000 suicides and 50,000 homicides, we can find some insight into why nocturnal wakefulness – what we are calling ‘the mind after midnight’ – carries a distinct risk for dysregulated behaviors.”

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Release Date:

05/31/2024 - 9:00am

Media Contact:

Jamie Manser

Original Story:

The mind after midnight: Study shows disrupted sleep increases risk for suicide and homicide

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