The<unk>  (sometimes called the<unk>  blues, especially when referring specifically to suicide) is a statistical phenomenon where an individual's likelihood of death appears to increase on or close to their<unk> . The<unk>  has been seen in studies of general populations in England and Wales, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States, as well as in smaller populations such as Major League Baseball players. Studies do not consistently show this<unk> ; some studies find that men's and women's mortality rates diverge in the run-up to the<unk> , while others find no significant gender<unk> . Suggested mechanisms for the<unk>  include alcohol consumption, psychological stress relating to the<unk> , increased suicide risk, terminally ill patients attempting to hold on until their<unk> , an increased mortality salience, or a physiological cycle that causes the body to weaken annually. It has also been suggested that it may be a statistical artifact, perhaps as a result of anomalies in reporting, but the<unk>  has also been seen in studies that control for known reporting anomalies.
Birthday effect
Weekend effect
July effect
Widowhood effect
Lombard effect
Anrep effect
Missing heritability problem
Mass effect 