Let’s imagine an extremely common situation: the end of the working week is approaching, with all that accumulated tiredness and stress that the only thing that causes us is the desire to clear our heads, considering whether to go out or stay to see the us. After an exchange of WhatsApp messages with our friends, we decided to go out on Friday night. Or maybe stay home that day and go out on Saturday.
SEE ALSO:
- Critical Illustrations on Modern Life by Marco Melgrati
- The Lie We Live In, A Documentary to Think About
- Tales of Failure in Reality / The Matrix
Sunday is sacred, as we must get enough rest to recover before starting the week again. Surely, considering all the circumstances, most choose Saturday as the main day to carry out activities. Like completing to-dos and/or enjoying a few drinks to clear your mind. If this is your case, you should exercise caution, as statistically Saturday is also the day on which we are most likely to die.
Why does Saturday stand out as the deadliest day of the week?
The answer lies in the analysis of a typical workweek and also in data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 1999 and 2014. Basically, the Sabbath is a peak in certain forms of unnatural death. Specifically, Saturdays are notable for the increase in the number of car accidents and drug overdoses.
But what is the reason behind this? It stands to reason that people tend to engage in riskier behaviors on Saturdays, particularly those related to alcohol consumption and driving under the influence. If we look closely at the data provided by the CDC on the number of deaths compared to other days of the week, we find that car accidents and overdoses skyrocket in frequency on Saturdays. In the United States alone, 42,000 and 85,000 cases are registered each year, respectively.
Considering that the year has 52 weeks, this translates into an alarming average of 814 and 1,640 people dying every Saturday from car accidents or overdoses. On the other hand, it is important to consider that the term “car accident death” includes both drunk drivers and victims impacted by drunk drivers.
Death statistics.
When analyzing the week as a whole, it is observed that deaths related to risky behaviors increase during the weekends and decrease in the middle of the week. Surprisingly, gun deaths peak on Sundays, with Saturday being the second day with the highest incidence. In this sense, it would be very useful to have data on the time of day when these deaths occur. Mainly because any event that occurred after midnight is accounted for in the next day. Unfortunately, the information is not available.
In contrast to deaths related to risky behaviors, deaths from natural causes, such as heart attacks, do not vary significantly throughout the week, with the exception of Mondays, when they peak. In 2005, an analysis published in the European Journal of Epidemiology concluded the same statistic. Although it is unknown whether this phenomenon is due to existential crises related to the working week or to other factors. In any case, it is discouraging and sad that natural death is more present on Mondays.
It’s clear that mortality influenced by gunshots, car accidents, and drug overdoses tends to increase on weekends. However, it is pertinent to note that the most common forms of natural death remain relatively constant over time.
In other words, even though there are more cases of gunshot wounds on Sundays, it is important to note that a considerably larger number of people continue to die daily from heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes, among other ailments.
The risk of dying.
This statistical phenomenon applies both in the United States and on a global scale. In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated that the top ten causes of death accounted for 55% of all deaths globally. To understand it better, in that year approximately 9 million people lost their lives due to heart disease, while 200,000 died in car accidents.
That is, no matter the circumstances, the risk of having a heart attack on the Sabbath is greater than that of dying from an overdose or in a car accident. However, we could consider this situation encouraging, since heart disease can be prevented to some extent by exercising and eating healthy. And while it may seem needless to mention, completely avoidable acts, such as overindulging in alcohol at a bar and then driving, also play a critical role.
Related:
Comments