Although seasonality has been documented for mental disorders, it is unknown whether similar patterns can be observed in employee sickness absence from work due to a wide range of mental disorders with different severity level, and to what extent the rate of change in light exposure plays a role. To address these limitations, we used daily based sickness absence records to examine seasonal patterns in employee sickness absence due to mental disorders.

We used nationwide diagnosis-specific psychiatric sickness absence claims data from 2006 to 2017 for adult individuals aged 16–67 (n = 636,543 sickness absence episodes) in Finland, a high-latitude country with a profound variation in daylength. The smoothed time-series of the ratio of observed and expected (O/E) daily counts of episodes were estimated, adjusted for variation in all-cause sickness absence rates during the year.

Unipolar depressive disorders peaked in October–November and dipped in July, with similar associations in all forms of depression. Also, anxiety and non-organic sleep disorders peaked in October–November. Anxiety disorders dipped in January–February and in July–August, while non-organic sleep disorders dipped in April–August. Manic episodes reached a peak from March to July and dipped in September–November and in January–February. Seasonality was not dependent on the severity of the depressive disorder.

These results suggest a seasonal variation in sickness absence due to common mental disorders and bipolar disorder, with high peaks in depressive, anxiety and sleep disorders towards the end of the year and a peak in manic episodes starting in spring. Rapid changes in light exposure may contribute to sickness absence due to bipolar disorder. The findings can help clinicians and workplaces prepare for seasonal variations in healthcare needs.