For decades, a dark seasonal narrative has persisted: The holidays are a dangerous time of heightened suicide risk. Now, a new content analysis shows the irony behind this myth: News media has perpetuated this misconception.

Researchers from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) have found that during the 2023–2024 holiday season, 58 percent of newspaper stories linking suicide and holidays reinforced this false narrative instead of dispelling it.