ADusk and Dawn Obsolete?

>I've never seen any data correlating time in artificial light and
>suicide rate. It would be hard to eliminate confounding factors, but it
>might be possible to gather good data on this one.

It's so rare that I get to bring my wimpy BS in Psychology to bear on this
website, I just couldn't resist.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a malady recognized by the American
Psychological Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM
III). In plain terms, some people who suffer typical symptoms of clinical
depression (depressed energy, sleep problems, feelings of sadness) find a
noticeable increase in symptoms during the winter months. There is now
substantial published research indicating that persons with SAD can reduce
their symptoms, and their reliance on anti-depressive medications, by
exposure to sunlight, or to light generated by bulbs specifically designed
to mimic the wavelengths of visible sunlight. It is generally recognized in
the psychological/psychiatric community that many people, even those who do
not suffer clinical depression, experience subjective improvements in mood
when exposed to more sunlight (real or simulated) each day.

This finding was playfully used in the TV series Northern Exposure, where
the doctor had half the town running around wearing these battery-powered
visors shining artificial sunlight on their foreheads.

BTW in another fascinating experiment, researchers in the 1960s placed two
volunteers into a deep cavern for several months, carefully removing any
clues from up above about the time of day, and then recorded what the
natural sleep/wakefulness cycle the volunteers fell into. After several
teams of volunteers the researchers concluded that in the absence of
sunlight clues, people naturally fall into a 25 hour cycle, not the expected
24 hour day.

To answer Al's actual question, I don't know that suicide specifically has
been associated with sunlight deprivation. But clearly depression has, and
the links between depression and suicide are well established.

Brad Walsh

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