Suicide is a global health concern, and investigating high-risk timeframes for suicide can provide valuable insights into optimal periods for expanding the availability of health-care services. Christmas and New Year’s Day are the most frequently examined holidays in terms of suicide rates. Studies have demonstrated a dip in suicide rates before or during Christmas and a peak after New Year’s Day [1–9]. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. For example, Durkheim posited that increased social integration during Christmas reduces the acceptability of suicide and enhances social support, thereby diminishing the risk of suicide [10,11]. Gabennesch [12] introduced the “broken-promise theory,” which suggests that major holidays like Christmas create expectations of improvement that temporarily lower the risk of suicide; however, unmet expectations can lead to frustration and disappointment, potentially triggering suicidal behaviors after the holidays [1,2]. Moreover, major holidays are often accompanied by stressors such as increased alcohol consumption, disrupted sleep patterns, financial burdens, and family conflicts, all of which can heighten the risk of suicide [1,2].

Compared with the suicide risk associated with Christmas and New Year’s Day, the link between Valentine’s Day and suicidal behavior is less well-studied. Traditionally associated with love and romance, Valentine’s Day has been increasingly commercialized, as evidenced by the popularization of gift-giving to express affection [13]. Disappointment from unmet expectations, the inability to meet a partner’s expectations, unhappy relationships, or unrequited love can lead to distress around Valentine’s Day [14]. If Valentine’s Day increases the risk of suicide, intervention programs should be developed to support and provide coping strategies for vulnerable individuals. Several studies have examined the correlations between Valentine’s Day and suicide and parasuicide; however, the results are mixed. Davenport and Birtle [15] found an increase in non-fatal deliberate self-harm on Valentine’s Day, whereas other studies have not found a significant increase in suicide or deliberate self-harm on Valentine’s Day [16–18].

Several aspects of the relationship between Valentine’s Day and suicide warrant further investigation. First, in traditional Chinese culture, the 7th day of the 7th lunar month—Chinese Valentine’s Day—has a millennia-long history but is observed similarly to the Western Valentine’s Day in modern Chinese-culture societies, with long-distance lovers often exchanging gifts. Given this cultural parallel, the relationship between Chinese Valentine’s Day and suicide risk deserves exploration. Second, studies have compared the number of suicides or parasuicides on Valentine’s Day with those on other days [15–17]. According to the “broken-promise theory” [12], individuals may experience a dynamic process of anticipation and disappointment around Valentine’s Day. Therefore, studies should examine changes in the suicide rate in the days before and after Valentine’s Day, not just on Valentine’s Day. Third, research has shown gender differences in the aftermath of New Year’s Day, with a more pronounced recovery in men’s suicide rates [19], and a longer duration of distress associated with Valentine’s Day among women (Lange et al., 2022). It has been hypothesized that women care more about the Valentine’s Day experience than men do, whereas men are more likely than women to feel pressure to meet their partner’s expectations on Valentine’s Day [14]. Moreover, a study in South Korea demonstrated that married men are a vulnerable population for increased suicide rates on lunar New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving Day [8]. Individuals of various marital statuses may have different attitudes, expectations, and distress on Valentine’s Day. Whether the risk of suicide on Valentine’s Day varies among individuals of different genders and marital statuses needs to be examined.

The present population-based study assessed whether suicide rates around Chinese and Western Valentine’s Days differed from the rest of the year. We hypothesized that suicide rates around Chinese and Western Valentine’s Days differed from the rest of the year. We also hypothesized that the correlations between Valentine’s Days and suicide rates varied among individuals of different genders and marital statuses.

The present study demonstrated that suicide rates on specific days around Chinese and Western Valentine’s Day differ from other days of the year, with these differences being gender and marital status-specific. Although suicide risk varied on these specific days, no corresponding differences were observed when analyses were conducted at the yearly level. A possible explanation is that these differences in risk persist only for a few days, so summing or averaging over the entire period surrounding Valentine’s Day dilutes the effect. This interpretation is supported by our findings, which indicate that not all days in this period exhibited statistically significant differences in suicide risk compared with other days of the year. Notably, married women exhibited a higher suicide rate on the third day after Chinese Valentine’s Day and between the third and fifth days after Western Valentine’s Day. These periods of increased risk may reflect unmet expectations related to Valentine’s Day, a time traditionally associated with romance and love. A possible reason is that women, more so than men, tend to value the expression of love through gestures such as dining out, gift-giving, or verbal affirmations on Valentine’s Day [20]. When these expectations are not met, married women may feel a strong sense of disappointment that can increase the risk of suicide. Women in poor marital relationships may also feel more pressure than usual on Valentine’s Day, consequently increasing the risk of suicide.

The present study found that married men had an increased suicide rate on the second day before Chinese Valentine’s Day but a lower suicide rate on the third day after Chinese Valentine’s Day. Because men are still expected to play the giver’s role in the Valentine’s Day ritual, married men may feel pressure about the upcoming Chinese Valentine’s Day, such as feeling that they should conform to societal expectations of gift-giving on a commercialized Chinese Valentine’s Day. These stresses are relieved after Chinese Valentine’s Day, and thus the suicide risk decreases in married men.

The present study found that single women, but not single men had a higher risk of suicide on the fifth day preceding Chinese Valentine’s Day, indicating that the upcoming Valentine’s Day makes single women feel stressed about not having a partner. The present study also found that divorced men had a lower suicide rate on the seventh day after Chinese Valentine’s Day compared with divorced women, indicating that divorced men and women may have different feelings about the end of Chinese Valentine’s Day.

These findings underscore the importance of developing interventions that address the unique stressors Valentine’s Day introduces and enhance support and coping mechanisms tailored to different demographic groups. Further research is necessary to delve deeper into the dynamics between Valentine’s Day and changes in suicide rates, particularly to understand the gender- and marital status-specific nuances observed around Chinese Valentine’s Day, which were not as pronounced during Western Valentine’s Day.

There are several limitations to this study. Firstly, despite obtaining suicide rates across various gender and marital status groups, we lacked specific information regarding the participants’ feelings about Valentine’s Day and their perceptions of their current marital status. Secondly, factors such as mental disorders and economic capacity that might influence or mediate the correlation between Valentine’s Day experiences and suicide were not determined in this study. Thirdly, this was an observational study, limiting the causal inferences that can be drawn from our results. Fourthly, some common potential factors, such as age, may also serve as effect modifiers which have influence on the association between the occurrence of Western or Chinese Valentine’s Day and suicide. Research may benefit from further stratified analyses to assess whether the impact of these culturally significant dates on suicide risk varies across different age groups. Finally, our findings indicated that significant suicide risks occurred on specific isolated days rather than over a continuous period surrounding Valentine’s Day. We did not assess whether these daily risks recurred annually during the study period (2012–2022) because a year-by-year analysis was statistically unreliable; stratifying by year, day, and demographic subgroup yielded daily suicide event counts that were too low—sometimes zero—to produce reliable estimates. Therefore, we analyzed the entire study period to obtain relatively reliable estimates. Future research employing larger, multi-national datasets is warranted to confirm these specific daily risk patterns.

The present study found that the suicide rates for certain days in the week before or after Chinese and Western Valentine’s Day were different from other days of the year, and these differences were gender and marital status specific. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions considering gender and marital status in suicide prevention strategies.