In April 2025, information spread on the RuNet that people born in March or April have an increased risk of developing mental disorders and, as a result, are more likely to become a serial killer. We have verified the accuracy of such publications.

“40% of maniacs are born in the spring - most often in March and April. According to research, those born during these months have an increased risk of developing mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This, of course, does not mean that every spring child will become a serial killer, but the risk of going crazy is a little higher,” says a post on the Telegram channel “Ax+"(2.6 million views at the time of writing this analysis). Publications on the channels also went viral:Ax Live"(579,000), "Dvach"(297,000), "Putin on Telegram" (174,000) "Leprosy"(113,000), etc. In addition, posts on this topic appeared in Instagram, Facebook And "VKontakte».

The connection between the time of year a person is born and the chance of developing mental disorders is indeed documented in numerous research different years. According to scientists, among those born in the winter-spring period in the Northern Hemisphere, approximately 5.5% more suffer from depression, 5.8% more from bipolar disorder, and 8% from schizophrenia. A similar picture are watching and among residents of the Southern Hemisphere, who were born, on the contrary, in the fall. It has been suggested that future psychological problems may be caused by external factors during pregnancy: colder weather, viral infections or a lack of sunlight (and therefore vitamin D). Be that as it may, “Verified” was unable to find a study whose authors directly link certain dates of birth with increased aggressiveness and, especially, the commission of serial murders.

Apparently, the source for viral publications on social networks was the article “The most dangerous numbers in the date of birth: in which months maniacs are most often born”, published in the Life.ru tabloid on April 11, 2025. This version is also supported by the fact that almost all posts use an illustration from this note.

The Life.ru article, however, does not talk about any research. The author writes only about his own observations: “Let’s turn to the notorious names. Anatoly Spesivtsev, nicknamed the Siberian Ripper, was born on March 1, 1970. Alexander Pichushkin, nicknamed the Bitsevsky maniac - April 9, 1974. Angarsk maniac Mikhail Popkov - March 7, 1964. And these are just a few of the long list of criminals who are united not only by the cruelty of the crimes committed, but also by their spring dates of birth. When studying the biographies of Russian serial killers, we noticed that about 40% of them were born in March and April.” Further, as an argument in favor of this thesis, it is said, for example, that the numbers 3 and 4, the serial numbers of March and April, are the numerological code of violence. The text itself is tagged “Esoterica”, and its author also writes on Life.ru about compatibility of people by names, ways to detect a generational curse And the most suitable sports for different zodiac signs.

So, although research confirms that people born in the spring in the Northern Hemisphere or in the fall in the Southern Hemisphere have a slightly increased risk of developing schizophrenia and some other disorders, scientists do not associate certain dates of birth with an increased likelihood of becoming a maniac. Viral posts claiming that 40% of serial killers were born in March and April are not based on scientific calculations, but on an unsubstantiated tabloid article.

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