Holidays Bring Death for Many Americans

[mil]

"Christmas is the deadliest day of the year for Americans with 12.4 percent more deaths than normal, researchers said on Monday." Mind you, this doesn't "count deaths from suicide, murder or accidents". I tried looking up statistics on suicide organized by month, but the most I can find are citations to a source that I can't find the full text for.

Maldonado G, Kraus JF.
Variation in suicide occurrence by time of day, day of the week, month, and lunar phase.
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1991 Summer;21(2):174-87.
PMID: 1887454 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Also in the news: "Vaccinating mice against Lyme disease may help protect people against the infection, which is often spread from mice to humans, U.S. researchers said on Monday." I'm amazed it took people this long to figure out that vaccinating the common non-human carriers of disease would reduce the prevalence of infection among humans. To borrow a term from thebkcam: DUH. Now, there was a short mention of how this may relate to crows and West Nile Disease, which I'm sure a certain person will be very interested in, as she probably will be with articles and radio programs about crow intelligence.

Comments

[qilora.livejournal.com]

our step-dad had 2 heart attacks a couple weeks ago, and really we thought he'd be okay until xmas...

*last* year, he had his heart-attacks on xmas, becuase there were people in his house and that meant he didn't have the living room to himself (he gets overwhelmed *very* easily)... when there is too much stuff happening around him (flashing lights on the tree) people walking around and talking and laughing.. it is all just too much for him...

he needs his chair, his TV, his CNN... then he is safe hahaha poor guy ;-)

last year he ended up sitting in the kitchen and shaking for *hours* until he started getting sick and had the heart-attacks...

i will really be surprised if he makes it through this xmas, if mom insists on all the socializing and party-making...

Zora & Co.

[postsynaptic.livejournal.com]

our step-dad had 2 heart attacks a couple weeks ago, and really we thought he'd be okay until xmas...

Actually, weren't they about a week-and-a-half ago? I think I recall you mentioning the heart attacks about a week ago as having happened over the weekend. I also remember that you said your mother was being very self-absorbed and trying to use his health problems as an excuse to indulge her own martyr complex.

i will really be surprised if he makes it through this xmas, if mom insists on all the socializing and party-making...

Based on what you've told me, I don't think too much of your mother. If he's an autistic man with a history of stress-induced health problems, his wife should be the last person to force him into situations that he finds extremely stressful. If she seriously wants to socialize and be at parties during the holiday season, she should hold them outside of the home (if home is where he is most comfortable). Is it that much more expensive to reserve a private room at a restaurant for Christmas? You would think that having no clean-up, no cooking duties, and more or less no responsibilities other than the financial ones would make up the difference, especially when a spouse's life is on the line.

[qilora.livejournal.com]

"Actually, weren't they about a week-and-a-half ago?"

oh man, now i have to think on dates hahahha ;-)
(screw blowing the fuses, we just went into the calender here at LJ and found our "word to the wise!" post on the 4th, so its been 10 days... you're right our sense of time is screwed) ;-)

as for mother attempting to be a martyr (we'd like to remind her that she'll have to be dead to be sainted) ;-) hahahah
i think i might have posted about how she was taken into the hallway by the doctor (so that Bobby didn't have to hear them talking) and the doc told her "its going to be a looooong road to recovery" (not his exact words, we can't remember now), and i interrupted mother on the fon (as she said this) and said "yes, poor Bobby" :-( and mother was flabbergasted and said "he meant for the family!"

(again, when mother says "family" she is actually saying "me, me, me, me, me!") ;-)

and these weren't his first heart attacks... the couple he had *last* year (which, *again* were not his first either), were on Christmas.. (when mother had all the people in the living room and poor Bobby was trying to escape from all the noise and people moving around in that room, by hiding in the kitchen (which is white and brightly lit, i might add) and sitting and shaking and smoking his ciggies and just watching the clock until everyone left and he could have his chair again)...

i *hate* to play favorites here, but Bobby actually *did* take care of us when we were kids... when he showed up, we were 9 (and sisters were 6 & 3) and after a year or so, he realised that Jeanette was *not* acting like much of a mom... he stopped drinking (i actually remember him just *stopping* period... just said "this is no good" and it was over).... i can remember him sitting with me next to the toilet in the bathroom and rubbing my back when i was sick with food poisoning... and he took care of Nini and Lynn too, whenever *any* of us kids got sick and we *never* had that before... so we are all *very* protective of him...

all of us girls (us and 2 younger sisters) are like "mom, just skip the party this year.. let the family and folks meet at aunt Maddy's and just let Bobby stay home and lets keep things low-key and mellow".... (we were literally *just* whining all this to starsandfishes, not a half hour ago)...

we'll have to wait and see what she decides to do... no matter what, she will be certain to announce to the world her grave sacrifice at not having her get togethers....

why can't she see that us kids would take losing our other Dad (only Dad we have left since our biological Daddy died!), that this would be such a *huge* loss... and that compared to doing without all the schmalz & kitsch of Christmas, well, there is just no comparison!!!

Bobby stays... her "playing hostess" can go!
Jesus would be happy, Jeanette! okay???

hahahahahahahah sorry to shout at you guys... it just really gets under our skin...

Ulla & Zora, & Co.

[qilora.livejournal.com]

oops, just saw that we were repeating a lot of stuff to you... sorry about that guys... our sleep has been screwing with our short-term memory...

Zora