Unemployment Causes 45000 Suicide Every Year
A New study published in The Lancet Psychiatry finds that
between 2000 and 2011, unemployment was the cause of approximately 45,000
deaths by suicide around the globe each year, and it accounted for around nine
times as many suicides as the recession, which first hit in 2008.
An unemployed man
Unemployment was found to account for nine times as many
suicides as the economic recession.
Lead author Dr. Carlos Nordt, of the University of Zurich
Psychiatric Hospital in Switzerland, and colleagues say the findings indicate
that governments need to increase focus on reducing unemployment in order to
lower its impact on suicide.
To reach their findings, the researchers assessed data from
the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database and the International
Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database.
The team used longitudinal modeling to calculate the effect
unemployment had on suicide in 63 countries over four world regions between
2000 and 2011. The researchers note that they looked at this period so they
could analyze the data in times of economic stability (2000-07) and in times of
economic crisis (2008-11).
Suicide interventions required in times of economic
stability and economic crisis
The researchers found that over all regions included in the
analysis, the rate of suicide associated with unemployment increased by 20-30%
in 2000-11.
They estimated that around 233,000 suicides took place each
year during this period, and unemployment accounted for around 45,000.
Perhaps most interestingly, the researchers found that
unemployment was associated with 41,148 suicides in 2007 and 46,131 in 2009,
which suggests that the recession in 2008 was responsible for 4,983 additional
suicides. This indicates that unemployment is responsible for nine times as
many suicides as the economic crisis.
The team also found that suicide rates tended to increase 6
months before a rise in unemployment rates, and that increasing unemployment
rates affected men and women equally - a finding that challenges that of
previous studies.
"What is more," the team adds, "our data
suggest that not all job losses necessarily have an equal impact, as the effect
on suicide risk appears to be stronger in countries where being out of work is
uncommon. It is possible that an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate
may trigger greater fears and insecurity than in countries with higher
pre-crisis unemployment levels."
Based on their findings, the researchers say suicide
interventions need to be put in place that focus on the negative health effects
of unemployment in times of economic stability and economic crisis. Dr. Nordt
adds:
"Besides specific therapeutic interventions, sufficient
investment by governments in active labour market policies that enhance the
efficiency of labour markets could help generate additional jobs and reduce the
unemployment rate, helping to offset the impact on suicide."
Suicides attributable to economic crisis 'just the tip of
the iceberg'
In an editorial linked to the study, Roger Webb and Navneet
Kapur, both of the University of Manchester in the UK, say the number of
suicides resulting from the economic crisis may only be the "tip of the
iceberg," noting that it is likely to have caused many other issues.
"Many affected individuals who remain in work during
these hard times encounter serious psychological stressors due to pernicious
economic strains other than unemployment, including falling income,
'zero-hour' contracting, job insecurity, bankruptcy, debt and home
repossession," they explain.
As such, Webb and Kapur say that as well as understanding
the effect of unemployment on suicide, we need a better understanding of other
"psychosocial manifestations of economic adversity," such as
non-fatal self-harm, stress and anxiety, depression, hopelessness, alcohol
abuse, familial conflict and relationship breakdown.
"We also need to know how and why highly resilient
individuals who experience the greatest levels of economic adversity manage to
sustain favorable mental health and well-being," they add.
source:medicalnewstoday.com
source:medicalnewstoday.com
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