Why You Are More Likely to Die on Your Birthday

The birthday effect is a real statistical phenomenon in which you are at increased risk of dying on, or near, your birthday. In a Swiss study of mortality data, 13.8% more people older than 60 died on their own birthday than any other day. According to The Guardian, a 2016 Japanese study of mortality from major external causes confirmed that people were “more likely to die on their birthday than any other calendar day” by means of suicide, traffic accidents, drowning, and choking. For suicide cases in particular, people are...