Study links British recession to 1,000 suicides
A painful economic recession, rising unemployment and
biting austerity measures may have already driven more than 1,000 people in
Britain to commit suicide, according to a scientific study published on
Wednesday.
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The study, a so-called time-trend analysis which compared
the actual number of suicides with those expected if pre-recession trends had
continued, reflects findings elsewhere in Europe where suicides are also on the
rise.
"This a grim reminder after the euphoria of the
Olympics of the challenges we face and those that lie ahead," said David
Stuckler, a sociologist at Cambridge University who co-led the study, published
in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The analysis found that between 2008 and 2010 there were
846 more suicides among men in England than would have been expected if
previous trends continued, and 155 more among women.
Between 2000 and 2010 each annual 10 percent increase in
the number of unemployed people was associated with a 1.4 percent increase in
the number of male suicides, the study found.
The analysis used data from the National Clinical and
Health Outcomes Database and the Office of National Statistics.
Stuckler, who worked with researchers from Liverpool
University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stressed
while this kind of statistical study could not establish a causal link, the power
of the associations was strong. Its conclusions were strengthened by other
indicators of rising mental health problems, stress and anxiety, he added.
He also pointed out the study showed a small reduction in
the number of suicides in 2010 which coincided with a slight recovery in male
employment.
A survey of 300 family doctors published by the Insight
Research Group on Tuesday found that 76 percent of those questioned about the
effects of the economic crisis said they thought it was making people
unhealthier, leading to more anxiety, abortions and alcohol abuse.
Data this month from the government's Health and Social
Care Information Centre showed the number of prescriptions dispensed in England
for antidepressants rose 9.1 percent in 2010.
A study published last July, also by Stuckler, found that
across Europe, suicide rates rose sharply from 2007 to 2009 as the financial
crisis drove unemployment up and squeezed incomes.
The countries worst hit by severe economic downturns,
such as Greece and Ireland, saw the most dramatic increases in suicides.
In Britain, there's little doubt times have been getting
harder. The economy has shrunk for the last nine months and now produces 4.5
percent less than before the economic crisis.
Government debt is well above a trillion pounds and is
predicted to rise above 90 percent of GDP even with austerity policies being
pushed through by the government.
Many Britons have had the worst squeeze in living
standards for 40 years and the crisis has hit young people hard, with youth
unemployment soaring above 20 percent.
Stuckler's BMJ study found that the number of unemployed
men rose on average across Britain by 25.6 percent each year from 2008 to 2010,
a rise associated with a yearly increase in male suicides of 3.6 percent.
"Much of men's identity and sense of purpose is tied
up with having a job. It brings income, status, importance..." Stuckler
said in a telephone interview.
"And there's also a pattern in the UK where men are
three times more likely to commit suicide than women, while women are much more
likely to report being depressed and seek help."
The World Health Organisation estimates that every year,
almost a million people die from suicide - a rate of 16 per 100,000, or one
every 40 seconds.
The U.N. health body also estimated that for every
suicide, there are up to 20 attempted ones.
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