Because depressive mood & suicides are more frequent in women seeking voluntary abortion, a 4-year analysis was performed on the database of the National Institute of Statistics & on the medical records of the gynaecology department of the University of Modena, Italy. The rate of voluntary abortions showed a seasonal rhythm with an amplitude of 6.1-6.7% & peaked in May. The national frequency of female suicides, obtained from the same ISTAT database, showed a similar rhythm, with an amplitude of 11.1% & maximal rate in June. (35 refs)