&gt; I&#x27;ve seen some theories that people in general don&#x27;t commit suicide while under active hardship, but after the hardship lets up a bit and they have time to reflect on it.<p>When suicide is driven by an established tradition of leaving <i>so that your family doesn&#x27;t starve</i>, you really expect it to occur in winter. By the time the hardship is gone, so is the justification for suicide.