Newsletter
The Melancholy of September2025-09-02
“The old summer’s-end melancholy nips at my heels.”
—Sara Baume
We are all familiar with “March Madness”, “The Ides of March “(Shakespeare). Used in colloquial or mental health settings. Longer days, more energy. Spring and Summer are coming. Activation, agitation, (impulsive) life and career changes.
Less appreciated is the converse, the “September Melancholy”. People return from vacations, facing the stresses of work, children starting school, the days get shorter, Fall and Winter are coming. In fact, our recent research has shown that surprisingly, September was a peak for suicides, as is the week around a full moon(1). Presciently, the World Suicide Prevention Day has been set for years on September 10.
This is the time of year where doubling-down on protective habits: daily exercise, talking to supportive family and friends, avoiding alcohol, putting the phone out of easy reach, and getting good sleep, are even more important. And be particularly on guard monthly on the week of the full moon. We also recommend people get seen by their health providers, and/or get tested to improve and pre-empt any mental health and chronic pain problems. For peace of mind. In support of that, we are offering at MindX Sciences a Labor Day One Week Sale: 25% off our MindX One liquid biopsy (https://mindxsciences.com/).