Searcy, AR. (LP) — A group of researchers in England conducted a massive study that compared season/month of birth and the risk of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and recurrent depressive disorder in order to test their hypothesis that the the former affects the latter. Other studies and research have covered similar topics, comparing birth month and mental illnesses like anorexia nervosa and even suicidal behavior. But this study is of particular note, as it was the largest such study ever performed in England. The study in question came to the conclusion that the three mental illnesses that were of focus were all affected by season of birth, with schizophrenia in particular showing both very striking seasonality and results that were very consistent with those of similar studies. The article describing the study also noted that the results showed strong similarities between the seasonal distributions of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder, a correlation that was intriguing considering the well established overlap between the two.

Finally, recurrent depressive disorder, while showing seasonality as well, but the effect seemed to be smaller compared to the others and the distribution peaked later in the spring while dropping in the autumn, notably different to the peaks in the winter months – particularly January – of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Furthermore, the article mentioned another study that had covered the possible seasonality of birth of 26,915 British suicide cases and found excess and deficit of births in April–May and October–November respectively. All of the above leads to the conclusion that the season/month of birth can have great effect the likelihood that someone will develop a mental illness. Of course, there are limitations to this study. Information on sex and ethnicity was not available and this represents a potential source of bias. Given the massive size of the numbers, though, this seems highly unlikely. The article detailing the study and its results concludes, “To conclude, season of birth influences the risk of SC, BAD and RDD in England to a similar extent as other countries and suggests that at least a proportion of psychiatric disease could be prevented by ameliorating the risk factor/s responsible for these intriguing epidemiological observations. It is now paramount to identify the seasonal factors that underlie the associations uncovered.”(Disanto, Giulio, et al. “Seasonal Distribution of Psychiatric Births in England.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 4 Apr. 2012, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0034866.)

This information begs the question, “What does this have to do with me?” After all, some big study over in England shouldn’t have anything to do with good ol’ Searcy, Arkansas, right? Well, a survey taken of the populace of Searcy High School might just prove that wrong. Naturally, the results wouldn’t be much compared to those done by professionals, and the numbers provided by a single small-ish high school would be nothing compared to those covering an entire country. But the results themselves, while a bit skewed, will still answer the confirm whether or not the British study holds water on the other side of the Atlantic. Students and teachers of the high school were asked whether or not they or a genetically close relative hve been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, recurrent depressive disorder, anorexia nervosa, or have committed/attempted suicide or have had suicidal thoughts/ideations.

While there are certainly cases where serious mental illnesses can  go undiagnosed, it’s generally a better idea to ask for clinical diagnoses made by a trained and educated professional instead of asking for what could potentially be a self-diagnosis in this kind of situation. So, in the study performed on the students and teachers of Searcy High, interviewees were asked if they or someone in their family tree had been diagnosed with a certain metal illness by a professional, instead of simply asking if they or a relative had experienced symptoms of that mental illness. Asking if a genetically close relative has been diagnosed with any of the above can help as well. Since genetics can play a role with mental health problems, especially mental illnesses, someone can have an increased risk of developing a mental illness simply by being related to another person who has already been identified to have it. Also, if the relation is distant, then the likelihood that it will affect the participant’s risk of developing mental illness is much less than that of a much closer relation.

Some questioned the possibility of a correlation. “I don’t think your birthday/birth month is a cause of mental health issues,” stated senior Myah Summerland. The student also displayed uncertainty on whether or not birth season could affect other things that could affect someone risk of developing mental illness, like personality. “Maybe it affects your personality… I’m not too sure, to be honest.” she admitted. In fact, it seems that most students don’t think that the two are connected. Sophomore Matthew Mancini agreed, “No. Ever heard of a coincidence?” When asked what his answer would be if he was told that birth season didn’t affect the risk of developing a mental illness, he responded, “I might agree, but I still wouldn’t care too much.”

The results of the study itself also seem to be unsure as to whether or not this could be the case. While there small spikes of anorexia nervosa and schizophrenia In the end, though there are definitely some factors that could have throw the results off as well as certain limitations that make it unclear whether the seasonality of certain metal illnesses are due to some other factors, it seems like a survey of the students and teachers of Searcy High School calls the results of the big study done over in Britain into question. In addition, there appears to be agreement between those interviewed that isn’t a connection between season/month of birth and the likelihood that someone will develop mental illness.