General and Military "suicide epidemics" are in fact one and the same."
_________________________________________
Increase Seen in U.S. Suicide Rate Since
Recession
By BENEDICT CAREY
The rate of suicide in the United States rose
sharply during the first few years since the start of the recession, a new
analysis has found.
In the report, which appeared Sunday on the Web site
of The Lancet, a medical journal, researchers found that the rate between 2008
and 2010 increased four times
_______________________________________________
Comments:
The parallel between general and military "suicide epidemics" is striking. Statistical approximation of military samples to general might not be truly "corrective", the "controlling" factors, such as age and gender might not in fact be controlling and having any particular significance.
The servicemen might strongly absorb, "incorporate", the perceptions and moods of their families and a community at large; a sense of sharing the same informational and emotional space is quite strong in the collective American psyche.
The comparison of both "epidemics"
"Suicide epidemics" are in quotation marks, because the very notion of "psychiatric epidemic" is rather questionable, it is copied from general epidemiology without much accounting for the specifics and complexities of "psychiatric epidemiology". The "truer" concept might include the very relative socially mediated perceptions, values and variables, since the true baseline figures for suicide as a statistical phenomenon are not known to us, and more than this: they do not even exist and cannot exist in principle. The numbers simply reflect the current state of affairs with very relative and arbitrary "baselines". The short term dynamics of these numbers, the statistical pattern and their underlying mathematical model might be more important than the significance of nominal baselines. And this pattern, as we see it on statistical graphs for both epidemics, is the same: the one of exponential growth, increase in a geometric progression. This might signify that general and military suicide epidemics are in fact one and the same epidemic, with mostly the same factors, and with some additional specific factors for military suicides, mentioned earlier, at play.
The onset of this epidemic appears to be the second half of 2001. The effects of traumatic events of 9.11.01 on American national psyche have to be considered as causative factors in both general and military suicides, with potentially more severe impact on military and similar type of services.
The effects of economic crisis and unemployment probably are mediated by the psychological trauma of the loss of social status, a significance of which, due to other contributing factors and psychology of military service, might be more pronounced and direct in the cases of suicides in the military, and, apparently, the study of this phenomenon in this particular very large group cannot be divorced from its studies in a community, culture and the country at large.
If this reasoning about the roles of causative factors is correct, we should expect gradual levelling off, platoing and eventually decrease of suicide rates to their relative baseline level, with wearing off the effects of social trauma on younger generations.
Like any "crisis", it stimulates thinking about the direction of the Nation and its role in the world and also about the role of the military in the extended peacetime, its potential role as a leading educational, cultural and scientific institution and a model of efficient management and rational and balanced social policies.
What is the relative significance and role, the degree of their "relative causative load", "relative weight" of these and other social, psychological and medical - neurological factors in the causation of various suicidal and self-injurious behaviors and what are the best ways of managing them? This has to be accurately measured, assessed and evaluated: conceptually and socio-psychometrically.
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Increase in state suicide rates in the USA during economic recession
Correspondence The Lancet (online November 5)
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CDC data
Suicidology - Links List
The latest data available from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention indicates that 38,364 suicide deaths were
reported in the U.S. in 2010. This latest rise places suicide again as the 10th
leading cause of death in the U.S. Nationally, the suicide rate increased 3.9
percent over 2009 to equal approximately 12.4 suicides per 100,000 people. The
rate of suicide has been increasing since 2000. This is the highest rate of
suicide in 15 years.
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www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/.../2011/RAND_MG953.pdf
File Format:
PDF/Adobe Acrobat 9/11 and national psyche - GS
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Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)
Anxiety After 9/11
by Brad Schmidt, Ph.D., Jeffrey Winters
The passengers boarding the Virgin Atlantic Airways flight from London to Los Angeles were wary, but everyone began to relax after takeoff. In midflight, over Canada, an attendant noticed a suspicious object behind a seat. Immediately, the cabin erupted in panic. The plane made an emergency landing in Edmonton, Canada, the passengers were evacuated, and a bomb squad was dispatched. The suspicious item? A cellphone.
We know nothing will be the same after September 11, 2001. Yes, policies will change: Airline security will tighten, mail service will be examined, and restrictions on civil liberties must be accepted. These are the sorts of changes politicians propose and men and women in uniforms will carry out; they are the unavoidable inconveniences of everyday life.
Such changes are coming to pass, but the altered American landscape includes more than security measures and ID cards. On September 11, terrorists did more than destroy buildings; they scarred the American psyche. The details are telling: Pharmacists report an increased demand for anti-anxiety drugs and the antibiotic Cipro, and some HMOs have seen a 25 percent increase in calls.
We are having difficulty grappling with our sudden loss of security. In the weeks immediately after the attacks, a survey of 668 Americans by the Institute of Social Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, reported that 49 percent of participants felt their sense of safety and security had been shaken. And some 62 percent of respondents said they had difficulty sleeping. In another poll of 1,015 Americans conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 57 percent had taken steps to protect themselves—such as taking precautions when opening mail and avoiding public events.
In place of invulnerability, many people now harbor a small and disquieting fear—a fear of attack by unseen agents at unexpected times using unthinkable weapons. The most common objects or occurrences have now assumed horrific resonance. A plastic knife is no longer a utensil packed for a picnic, but a means to mass murder.
Psychologists study many kinds of fear. There are common phobias, such as the fear of spiders, and post-traumatic stress—the fears that spring from memories of dramatic, sometimes life-threatening events. But because most Americans are far removed from New York City and Washington, D.C., other sorts of fears are probably at work. In particular, psychologists will look for symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, which creates an exaggerated fear response in people who have been emotionally scarred.
Over time, the general level of anxiety should ease. But some long-lasting effects will remain, and a few things will never be the same.
A man on a flight to San Jose, California, opens an envelope and a powdery substance spills out. A fellow passenger alerts the flight attendant, reporting that he had dispersed the powder into the ventilation system. Once the plane lands, it is held on the tarmac for three hours and the FBI is called to investigate. The "powdery substance" was confetti enclosed in a greeting card.
Such an overreaction shows just how fearful ordinary people are. But there is nothing wrong with feeling fear: We all do at some point. Fear is one of the most basic emotions and is not, in itself, dangerous; it is part of a natural alarm system designed to react to or anticipate danger. And though that system was first employed to avoid natural predators—a lion on the prowl, say—it has been adapted over time to deal with abstract threats or even social situations. For some, a letter filled with a powdery substance or the sight of a man wearing a gas mask would create a distinct sensation of fear, even panic, though it would be hard to explain the exact threat to someone who lived just one hundred years ago.
Another physical reaction is a change in the blood's circulation pattern—the vessels close to the skin constrict so that more blood is available to the large muscles. This redistribution is important because muscles in the arms and legs might be needed to run from or fight off an attacker. But it creates a distinct physical sensation—the blood running cold or a chill down the spine.
As an outgrowth of this ancient alarm system, fear also weakens the ability to concentrate. People who are anxious often complain that they are easily distracted from daily chores. That's a normal part of the fear response: One of the most important aspects of dealing with danger is finding out where it is coming from. Instead of focusing on small tasks, the brain cries out to scan the environment and find the threat. In the distant past, the threat might have been a predator in the bushes. With the current threats coming not from tigers but from terrorists, people most often study the newspaper looking for clues to potential danger.
The entire design of the body's alarm system is geared toward protecting the individual from threats. But people don't just react to threats—they anticipate them, as well. Again, this kind of fear is part of the normal strategy humans have evolved to avoid danger. Anticipatory fear has two distinct modes: anxiety, a preoccupation with an impending threat, and worry, the internal struggle to find a way to escape the danger.
It is probably safe to say that most of the fear experienced since September 11 has been worry and anxiety. Americans have been anxious about attacks from anthrax-laced mail, they have worried about the availability of antibiotics and the safety of the water supply. Such anticipation is not only normal, it is healthy—often the best way to protect oneself is to spot a threat before it is imminent and find ways to avoid it.
For decades, many people feared the threat of nuclear war. Indeed, after the Soviet Union demonstrated its nuclear weapons in 1949, many Americans were beset by the kinds of worries and anxieties that some people now feel about the possibility of terrorist attacks. In fact, many people were certain that civilization as we know it was about to end—a feeling made stronger by books and movies, such as "On the Beach" and "The Day After" set in postapocalyptic futures.
This worry about nuclear annihilation led to actions such as building bomb shelters and installing the so-called hotline between Moscow and Washington. Indeed, one can argue that taking such steps in response to cold-war hysteria kept nuclear war at bay.
Yet some fears persist in ways that are not advantageous to the fearful. Those sorts of fears create more problems than they solve, and paralyze rather than motivate. Anxiety disorders are a significant mental health problem in the United States—about one in four people experience one form at some point in their lives. Several variants have been identified, from social anxiety disorder, a fear based on social scrutiny, to panic disorder, in which a person is actually afraid of fear itself.
Sometimes, though, a person may develop anxiety or worry about potential catastrophes to an extent far beyond the normal fear response. Even though the individual may not think she is worrying too much, her anxieties, in fact, cause an enormous amount of stress and may even keep her from fully participating in everyday life. This sort of exaggerated worry is known as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Some 4 million American adults have GAD, and it afflicts women twice as often as it does men.
The development of GAD appears to involve a small genetic factor. In July 2001, researchers from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond reported in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders that a study of 3,100 twins suggests that inherited traits account for some 15 to 20 percent of the vulnerability to GAD; the other factors are environmental.
The National Institute of Mental Health describes the symptoms of GAD this way: People with GAD can't seem to shake their concerns, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. Their worries are accompanied by physical symptoms, especially trembling, twitching, muscle tension, headaches, irritability, sweating or hot flashes.
The physical symptoms of GAD, then, mirror the body's reaction to fear. Indeed, GAD can be thought of as living in a state of constant, if low-level, fear. But unlike the normal causes of fear—real threats that require a serious response—generalized anxiety disorder exaggerates the amount of danger arising from a potential situation. People with GAD tend to overestimate the likelihood of harm coming from a given situation and view minor or ambiguous events as catastrophes. If normal fear is an alarm, GAD is a false alarm you can't turn off.
Normal worrying differs from excessive worrying in amount, not in kind. A study of 1,588 college students, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology by psychologists at Pennsylvania State University and Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, found that there was no clear way to separate levels of worry into two tidy groups. Instead, there seems to be a continuum of worry.
Research suggests that GAD is linked to the brain's storage of emotionally charged memories. The feelings one has at the time of an event appear to play an important role in the strength of later memories. Although all memories fade over time, the ones connected with the most passionate emotions remain the most indelible.
From the evolutionary perspective, that makes sense: Memories are stored so that we can gain information about the world; so remembering emotional events helps us duplicate our biggest triumphs and avoid repeating our most ignominious defeats. The best way to do that is to retain the memory with a mental tag that conveys an emotional message.
Sometimes, though, emotionally laden memories of a dangerous situation get stored in a confusing way. That's particularly true of threats that may be somewhat abstract in nature. If a snake has threatened you, you know what to look out for in the future. But for Americans who feel threatened by terrorism, the danger signs are not exactly clear. Indeed, in the weeks after September 11, the news was filled with details of the hijackings and reports of anthrax bacteria arriving in the mail. These images, as well as predictions that future attacks are 100 percent certainties, are all "tagged" with fearful emotions.
Once a memory has been tagged with fear, the brain is ready to respond when it senses something that triggers that memory. It is almost as if a person becomes scarred emotionally and will react anytime the wound is touched. To test this model, Schmidt conducted a study of some 1,300 men and women in their first year at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Cadets who had reported having a panic attack in the past were found to be more likely to believe that anxieties are harmful—which is itself a cause of panic attacks. After experiencing a panic attack, a person becomes more vulnerable to additional attacks. This suggests that traumatic events in a person's past may play a large part in creating anxiety disorders.
Psychologists believe such scarring is the result of a person experiencing an unexpected personal loss—some event that makes him feel the world is a threatening place. But there are many people with GAD who have not had such personal losses. Instead, seeing friends experience a tragedy or even receiving mistaken information about potential risks is enough to trigger exaggerated anxiety.
Whatever the cause, once the fear structure is in place, even the most everyday occurrences can instill deep anxieties. If the fear involves the health and safety of your children, for instance, then simply watching them board a school bus can be unsettling.
It's important to remember that, on balance, fear is a good thing. It warns us of imminent dangers and reminds us of past threats. Many ingenious solutions—from the Constitution to the Internet—have come from worrying about difficult problems.
The fears that resulted from the attacks on the World Trade Center have been paralyzing for some. For others, the anxiety has led to extreme overreactions—such as refusing to enter a post office.
In time, perhaps we can put these fears to constructive use. Rather than panic at the sight of a man in a turban, read up on other cultures. Instead of worrying about the supply of antibiotics, research how difficult it is to contract anthrax.
In the wake of the most horrendous attacks in American history, it is healthy to feel some fear. Just don't allow that fear to defeat you.
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| National Experiment on American Emotions Reveals Impact of Fear, Anger | |
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PITTSBURGH-An unusual national experiment on American emotions conducted by Carnegie Mellon University scientists reveals a national psyche deeply influenced in opposite ways by anger and fear and enormously impacted by media coverage of events post 9-11.
The scientists, all experts in studying the way people think and behave, were able to quickly pull together an experiment that studied the emotions and perceptions of the risks of terrorism of nearly 1,000 American women, men and teens following the terrorist attacks on America.
The results have been presented to NATO officials assessing the carryover impact of terrorism and are in press with the journal Psychological Science. The experiment results may have implications for better understanding of consumer behavior, the role of the media, and public support for the war on terrorism.
Jennifer Lerner, an assistant professor of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon and lead author of the paper, commented that the emotional responses of Americans "clearly influence everything from future support for military action to decisions to travel."
The Carnegie Mellon team drew four major conclusions from the study:
1) Americans who experience anger are more optimistic about the future, less likely to take precautionary actions, and more likely to favor aggressive policy responses than those who experience fear.The experiment involving nearly 1,000 American men and women ages 13 to 88, suggests that heightened emotions of fear and anger affect responses to the threat of terror currently facing the nation, with anger promoting greater optimism and more aggressive policies.
2) Individuals see themselves as less vulnerable than the "average American," while still perceiving strikingly high personal risk in the wake of September 11.
3) Men experience more anger about terrorism than women, leading them to be more optimistic than women.
4) Media portrayals of the terrorist attacks strongly influence emotional responses, producing anger in some instances and fear in others.
Feelings of fear likely fueled the sense of pessimism that contributed to the national economic downturn after September 11 and the call for tighter security; feelings of anger likely fed the sense of optimism, contributing to support for military action and the sense that threats could be controlled.
Scientifically, the experiment plows new ground. Scientists say that this is the first time that the effects of emotion have been studied in a national sample, using the random assignment to conditions of fear or anger.
The experiment also underscored the profound impact that media coverage has on the American public, Lerner said.
Because emotions often affect economic decisions and the formation of policies, team members stressed the importance of undertaking further studies like this one.
"Citizens need to understand these processes in order to apply their hearts and minds to what might be a protracted struggle with the risks of terror," said Carnegie Mellon University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences Baruch Fischhoff, a member of the scientific team.
In addition to Lerner and Fischhoff, the team included doctoral students Roxana Gonzalez and Deborah Small, all of Carnegie Mellon's Department of Social and Decision Sciences.
Grants from the National Science Foundation and the American Psychological Association funded the study.
Details of the Scientific Experiment Dealing with Emotional Response to Terrorism
In contrast to the common view that negative emotions lead to pessimism, the researchers hypothesized that the negative emotion of anger would lead to optimism, relative to the negative emotion of fear. They also hypothesized that simply asking people to reflect on fear or anger while viewing a fear- or anger-inducing media clip would elicit emotions that were strong enough to shape perceptions of twenty different risky events. Finally, they hypothesized that males would experience more anger and females would experience more fear, leading males to make relatively optimistic risk estimates.
These hypotheses were tested and supported in a national field experiment with almost 1,000 American citizens, ages 13 to 88. The sample's demographics corresponded to those of the U. S. Census, so the results would generalize to the U.S. population. Using WebTVs supplied by the research corporation Knowledge Networks, the project initially asked respondents about their reactions only nine days after the attacks. Eight weeks later, using TV imagery and newspaper reports from major media organizations (e.g., CNN, the New York Times) broadcast on the Web TVs, the researchers surveyed the same people again. For this second survey, half of the sample was exposed to a fear-inducing media clip, while the other half was exposed to an anger-inducing clip.
Anger Led to Optimism; Fear Led to Pessimism
Carnegie Mellon researchers found that Americans randomly assigned to the "fear condition" perceived greater risks from terrorism, while those in the "anger condition" perceived less risk.
"Brief reminders of media stories elicited emotions that shaped Americans' perceptions of their own level of risk. Stories that induced fear increased their perception that they would be hurt in a terrorist attack, while stories that induced anger reduced their perception of personal risk," Lerner explained.
She added that the differential effects of fear and anger were not limited to emotions induced experimentally. Naturally-occurring fear and anger measured in the week after the attacks had the same pattern as the experimentally-induced fear and anger.
"Regardless of whether we randomly exposed people to emotion-inducing media stories or if we measured naturally-occurring emotions, greater anger led to greater optimism," Lerner said.
Fear, Anger Trigger Different Precautionary Responses and Policy Preferences
Fear and anger not only produced different risk perceptions, but also different precautionary responses and different policy preferences. The Carnegie Mellon scientific team contends that these findings have important implications for the health of the U.S. economy and public support for the war against terrorism.
Americans who saw a fear-inducing media story were more likely to say that they would take personal precautions, such as reducing their air travel. Americans who saw a fear-inducing media story were also more likely to support conciliatory public policies. By contrast, Americans who saw an anger-inducing story were less likely to say they would take precautions and less likely to support conciliatory policies.
Overall, Americans strongly supported the public policies of "providing Americans with honest, accurate information about the situation, even if the information worries people," "investing in general capabilities, like stronger public health, more than specific solutions, like smallpox vaccinations," and "deporting foreigners in the U.S. who lack visas." There was somewhat weaker, but still positive support for "strengthening ties with countries in the Moslem world."
Men Perceive Less Risk than Women Because They Are Angrier
The Carnegie Mellon study also discovered that males (ages 13-88) were less pessimistic about risks than were females-because they were angrier. "The striking difference in risk perception between males and females is due to males experiencing greater anger and females greater fear," Lerner said.
Americans Perceived High Risk of Terrorism-But Also Say Risk Is Higher for "Other"Americans than for Themselves
The experiment found that subjects saw "average Americans" as facing much higher risks than they did personally. The researchers said these results did not, however, reflect unrealistic personal optimism. According to Lerner, many risk estimates last November reflected profound pessimism.
On average, respondents saw a 21 percent chance of being injured in a terrorist attack within the next year as opposed to the 48 percent chance assigned to the average American. "This is still a very gloomy view," Lerner commented.
Respondents had realistic expectations about more-everyday happenings, such as the likelihood of getting the flu.
Carnegie Mellon scientists say a follow-up study will assess whether Americans' estimates of risk will have changed a year later, as well as examining the accuracy of their initial risk estimates.
NATO workshop Focuses on Terrorism
The meeting at NATO headquarters, where the findings were presented, was the first scientific workshop co-sponsored by NATO and Russia to gather scientists from around the world to consider the psychological and social consequences of chemical, biological, and radiological terrorism - and to advise policy makers on prevention and mitigation measures. A preliminary summary of the meeting and this report appears on the NATO Web site,http://www.nato.int/science/e/020325-arw2.htm.
Study Advances New Experimental Methods for Examining Emotion and Judgment
Many studies have looked at correlations between emotional responses and risk perceptions. However, no studies with a national sample have experimentally manipulated emotions. According to the researchers, only experimental manipulation, with random assignment to condition, allows one to conclusively examine causal relationships. Other national studies have typically involved correlational designs without experimental manipulations and random assignment, while experimental studies have typically been conducted only in the laboratory. Scientists say the Carnegie Mellon study breaks new ground by marrying the virtues of both methods: It takes experimental methodology outside the laboratory to a nationally representative sample of Americans.
---Carnegie Mellon University
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Increase Seen in U.S. Suicide Rate Since Recession
By BENEDICT CAREY
The rate of suicide in the United States rose sharply during the first few years since the start of the recession, a new analysis has found.
In the report, which appeared Sunday on the Web site of The Lancet, a medical journal, researchers found that the rate between 2008 and 2010 increased four times faster than it did in the eight years before the recession. The rate had been increasing by an average of 0.12 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 through 2007. In 2008, the rate began increasing by an average of 0.51 deaths per 100,000 people a year. Without the increase in the rate, the total deaths from suicide each year in the United States would have been lower by about 1,500, the study said.
The finding was not unexpected. Suicide rates often spike during economic downturns, and recent studies of rates in Greece, Spain and Italy have found similar trends. The new study is the first to analyze the rate of change in the United States state by state, using suicide and unemployment data through 2010.
“The magnitude of these effects is slightly larger than for those previously estimated in the United States,” the authors wrote. That might mean that this economic downturn has been harder on mental health than previous ones, the authors concluded.
The research team linked the suicide rate to unemployment, using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Every rise of 1 percent in unemployment was accompanied by an increase in the suicide rate of roughly 1 percent, it found. A similar correlation has been found in some European countries since the recession.
The analysis found that the link between unemployment and suicide was about the same in all regions of the country.
The study was conducted by Aaron Reeves of the University of Cambridge and Sanjay Basu of Stanford, and included researchers from the University of Bristol, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the University of Hong Kong.
via NYT > Home Page by By BENEDICT CAREY on 11/4/12
The rate of suicide in the United States rose sharply during the first few years since the start of the recession, a new analysis has found.
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- US suicide rates up since crisis began
Independent Online - 3 hours agoSuicide rates in the United States have risen sharply since the ... recession,” said Aaron Reeves of Britain's University of Cambridge, who led ...
US suicide rates up since crisis began
Suicide rates in the United States have risen sharply since the economic crisis took hold in 2007 and political leaders should do more to protect Americans' mental health during tough times, researchers said on Monday.
In a letter to The Lancet medical journal, scientists from Britain, Hong Kong and United States said an analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that while suicide rates rose slowly between 1999 and 2007, the rate of increase more than quadrupled from 2008 to 2010.
“There is a clear need to implement policies to promote mental health resilience during the ongoing recession,” said Aaron Reeves of Britain's University of Cambridge, who led the research and submitted it in a letter to The Lancet.
“In the run-up to the US presidential election, President Obama and Mitt Romney are debating how best to spur economic recovery, (but) missing from this discussion is consideration of how to protect Americans' health during these hard times.”
According to Reeves' analysis, around 1500 more people a year in the United States have committed suicide since 2007 compared to numbers that would have been expected if the 1997 to 2007 trends had continued.
The model used to analyse the data - one also recently used to estimate the effect of recession on suicide rates in England - showed unemployment may account for around a quarter of the excess suicides in the US since 2007, Reeves said.
Similar rises in suicide rates have also been found in Greece, Spain, Britain and other countries hit by economic recession and rising unemployment in recent years.
“Suicide is a rare outcome of mental illness, but this means that these data are likely the most visible indicator of major depression and anxiety disorders among people living through the financial crisis,” Reeves said. - Reuters
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US suicide rates have risen sharply since economic crisis
www.thejournal.ie/suicide-rates-increase-america-economic...
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6 hours ago – The research is published today in The Lancet. Aaron Reeves of the University of Cambridge who led the research said that the data followed ... |
US suicide rates have risen sharply since economic crisis
Researchers found that the number of suicides more than quadrupled in the United States between 2008 and 2010, echoing the findings of similar research in Ireland.
SUICIDE RATES IN America have risen sharply since the economic crisis kicked in almost five years ago, according to a major study published today.
Researchers found that the number of suicides more than quadrupled in the United States between 2008 and 2010.
The study found that an estimated 1,500 additional suicides have taken place in the US every year since 2007 compared to the number that would have been expected if trends from the previous decade had continued. The research is published today in The Lancet.
Aaron Reeves of the University of Cambridge who led the research said that the data followed trends in other countries which have been hit hard by the economic crisis.
“In the run-up to the US Presidential election, President Obama and Mitt Romney are debating how best to spur economic recovery,” he said.
“Missing from this discussion is consideration of how to protect Americans’ health during these hard times. Suicide is a rare outcome of mental illness, but this means that these data are likely the most visible indicator of major depression and anxiety disorders among people living through the financial crisis, as revealed by recent research in Spain and Greece”.
The study also echoes similar research in Ireland which has found that suicide rates have increased as the economy has tumbled and unemployment rates have increased. Figures from the Central Statistics Office show 525 people took their own lives in Ireland in 2011, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year.
A recent study by the National Suicide Research Foundation examined almost 200 cases of suicide in Cork over three years and found that the recession has had a direct impact on suicide rates. Almost one third of suicide victims had worked in construction or related areas which have been disproportionately affected by the downturn. Almost 40 per cent of suicide victims in the study were unemployed.
The authors of the report on the US suicide rates pointed out that some countries such as Sweden have managed to avoid increased rates of suicide during the economic downturn, suggesting that some countries have been better at promoting mental health resilience during difficult times.
If you have been affected by the issues discussed in this article please call Aware at 1890 303 302 or the Samaritans at 1850 60 90 90, or email jo@samaritans.org.
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Selected Online First articles from The Lancet journals ahead of print publication.
- Increase in state suicide rates in the USA during economic recessionCorrespondence The Lancet (online November 5)
Increase in state suicide rates in the USA during economic recession - GS
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suicide unemployment - GS
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suicide unemployment loss of social status - GS
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suicide loss of social status - GS
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Rise in suicides blamed on impact of recession | Society | The ...
www.guardian.co.uk › News › Society › Suicide ratesCached
14 Aug 2012 – Male suicides increased by 3.6% as joblessness rose 25%, with unemployment ... on their lives of the economic recession, according to a new analysis. ... She said: "This research gives us credible evidence that the suicide rate in England is ... policies can mitigate the increase in suicide during recession.Rise in suicides blamed on impact of recession
Male suicides increased by 3.6% as joblessness rose 25%, with unemployment linked to 1,000 deaths from 2008-10
Sarah Boseley, health editor
More than 1,000 people in the UK may have killed themselves because of the impact on their lives of the economic recession, according to a new analysis.
Suicides tend to rise in hard economic times, and there has been evidence of the numbers increasing in Greece and more recently in Italy as people have lost their jobs and struggled to support themselves and their families.
A paper published in the British Medical Journal suggests that the same pattern is now visible in Britain.
The suicide rate had been dropping steadily in the UK for 20 years before the recession hit, but in 2007-2008 it rose by 8% among men and 9% among women.
Academics from the Universities of Liverpool and Cambridge, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, investigated the figures to try to establish whether the recession was the cause.
They looked at information on suicides in 93 regions held by the National Clinical and Health Outcomes Database for the decade from 2000-2010, and also examined from the Office for National Statistics the numbers of unemployed people claiming benefits.
They found that the suicide rate among men rose by 1.4% for every 10% increase in unemployment.
Between 2008-2010, they say, 846 more men ended their life than would have been expected had the downward trend continued; the corresponding number for women was an extra 155 suicides.
On average, male unemployment rose by 25.6% in each of those years, while the male suicide rate rose by 3.6% each year. When male employment rates rose briefly in 2010, the suicide rate dropped slightly.
Ben Barr, of the public health department at Liverpool University, one of the study's authors, said joblessness, financial worries, debt and housing issues were probably all factors behind the suicide rise. But he said: "There has been a large amount of evidence from other studies and other countries that shows that unemployment is a particular risk factor for suicide."
There was a need for policies to promote employment and also to safeguard services that could help those who had lost their jobs, Barr said.
He added: "In some areas, where cuts are occurring they are affecting services that might help mitigate the effects of job loss on mental health. A lot of the charities working in the poorest parts of the country, or on mental health problems and people out of work, are potentially at risk.
"There are countries where you don't see such a relationship [between unemployment and suicide]. Those countries tend to be those [with] good employment protection and wellbeing support, such as those in Scandinavia."
Clare Wyllie, the Samaritans' head of policy and research, said the link between increased suicides and unemployment was well established.
She said: "This research gives us credible evidence that the suicide rate in England is linked to the current recession. We've seen calls to the helpline from people worried about financial difficulties double since the onset of the economic crisis. In 2008, one in 10 calls to the helpline were about financial issues, now that's one in five.
"There is evidence that government investment in welfare and active labour market policies can mitigate the increase in suicide during recession.
"The research also points to important gender differences in suicide. Samaritans is researching how social expectations of men contribute to the considerably higher rate of suicide in men."
Suicides tend to rise in hard economic times, and there has been evidence of the numbers increasing in Greece and more recently in Italy as people have lost their jobs and struggled to support themselves and their families.
A paper published in the British Medical Journal suggests that the same pattern is now visible in Britain.
The suicide rate had been dropping steadily in the UK for 20 years before the recession hit, but in 2007-2008 it rose by 8% among men and 9% among women.
Academics from the Universities of Liverpool and Cambridge, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, investigated the figures to try to establish whether the recession was the cause.
They looked at information on suicides in 93 regions held by the National Clinical and Health Outcomes Database for the decade from 2000-2010, and also examined from the Office for National Statistics the numbers of unemployed people claiming benefits.
They found that the suicide rate among men rose by 1.4% for every 10% increase in unemployment.
Between 2008-2010, they say, 846 more men ended their life than would have been expected had the downward trend continued; the corresponding number for women was an extra 155 suicides.
On average, male unemployment rose by 25.6% in each of those years, while the male suicide rate rose by 3.6% each year. When male employment rates rose briefly in 2010, the suicide rate dropped slightly.
Ben Barr, of the public health department at Liverpool University, one of the study's authors, said joblessness, financial worries, debt and housing issues were probably all factors behind the suicide rise. But he said: "There has been a large amount of evidence from other studies and other countries that shows that unemployment is a particular risk factor for suicide."
There was a need for policies to promote employment and also to safeguard services that could help those who had lost their jobs, Barr said.
He added: "In some areas, where cuts are occurring they are affecting services that might help mitigate the effects of job loss on mental health. A lot of the charities working in the poorest parts of the country, or on mental health problems and people out of work, are potentially at risk.
"There are countries where you don't see such a relationship [between unemployment and suicide]. Those countries tend to be those [with] good employment protection and wellbeing support, such as those in Scandinavia."
Clare Wyllie, the Samaritans' head of policy and research, said the link between increased suicides and unemployment was well established.
She said: "This research gives us credible evidence that the suicide rate in England is linked to the current recession. We've seen calls to the helpline from people worried about financial difficulties double since the onset of the economic crisis. In 2008, one in 10 calls to the helpline were about financial issues, now that's one in five.
"There is evidence that government investment in welfare and active labour market policies can mitigate the increase in suicide during recession.
"The research also points to important gender differences in suicide. Samaritans is researching how social expectations of men contribute to the considerably higher rate of suicide in men."
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