Is this the season of goodwill?

From The Independent

By Maxine Frith

The common perception is that the suicide rate always goes up over Christmas. But in fact, the number of people who kill themselves drops by around 7 per cent during December - although it then rises to its highest monthly rate in January.

Despite the reduction in suicides, calls to the Samaritans increase by 10 per cent between Christmas and New Year. The murder rate also goes up by 4.2 per cent, partly due to the increase in domestic violence that is widely reported by police forces. More than 8,000 children called the NSPCC or ChildLine phone lines between Christmas Eve and 4 January last year to talk about emotional problems and abuse. One in five people says that the festive period causes them stress, according to the mental health charity Mind. And of the five million elderly people who live alone in the UK, one million will spend Christmas Day on their own.

A poll by Reader's Digest found that people's greatest irritation over the Christmas period is the plague of family grievances that the holiday season engenders. More than a third said that they had to deal with arguments between relatives every year. Even events out of the family home are not much better - half of office parties feature a punch-up and one in three with an incident of sexual harassment.

Well, I hope that at least SOME of us had a fun Christmas!