Contrary to popular perception and medical myth, the Christmas holiday season (from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day) does not produce the highest rates of suicide. In fact, statistically December has the lowest suicide rate of any month of the year. "Christmas itself seems to have a protective effect with regard to certain types of psychopathology," say researchers.

That doesn't mean people don't get depressed at a higher rate, or resort to drug and alcohol abuse during the holiday season. The statistics bear out the truth of these realities. But it is the time immediately following the holiday season--that time of festivity letdown--when researches see the greatest uptick in suicide attempts. One large Danish study places the uptick as high as 40 percent.

Social isolation--that feeling of disconnectedness--is the single greatest predictor of holiday depression and post holiday suicide.

Much has been said about the "tears of a clown"--the notion that every comic face masks a depressed or troubled soul. The truth is, the research is contradictory at worst and inconclusive at best.

“People think comedians have these really dark personalities, but a lot of people have dark personalities and most of them don’t become comedians. You actually have to be pretty well-adjusted to be successful in the world of entertainment because it’s so competitive,” says Peter McGraw, a psychology and marketing professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and author of The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny.

On the other hand, research from Oxford University published earlier this year surveyed 523 comedians and compared them to a control group:

Their finding? “The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis—both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,” study author Gordon Claridge, of the University of Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology, told the BBC. He said comedians may use their act as a form of self-medication.

Suffice it to say that relentless jesting may not necessarily mask a deeper struggle within, but it is certainly possible that it might.

Case in point: Jamie Masada, a US comedy club pioneer, observed of his relationship with Robin Williams: "He was always in character - you never saw the real Robin. I knew him 35 years, and I never knew him."

In his book IN THE EYE OF THE STORM, Max Lucado begins:

Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.

The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned.

Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air.

Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares."

It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart.

Max Lucado is one of the most beloved American authors and speakers of this generation. Most of his books have appeared on one or more best seller lists, including those published by the "New York Times," "USA Today," "Publishers Weekly," and the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA).