NOVANEWS
The researchers suggested the increases in suicides were likely prompted by stress caused by unemployment, debt, homelessness and insecurity as welfare services were gutted.
Austerity kills, according to new research on Greek suicide rates.
Hardline austerity measures have been accompanied by record high suicide rates in Greece, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Monday.
“In 30 years, the highest months of suicide in Greece occurred in 2012. The passage of new austerity measures in June 2011 marked the beginning of significant, abrupt and sustained increases in total suicides,” the study by BMJ Open found.
The two spikes in suicides corresponded with “select austerity-related events” in a nation which has historically had one of the world’s lowest rates of suicide, according to the paper.
When austerity policies first began to be introduced in June 2011, suicide rates increased by 35 percent. Monthly suicide figures peaked in July 2012, when 64 Greeks took their lives – an average of more than two suicides per day. In May 2012, suicide rates again spiked at 62 over the course of the month.
The researchers suggested the increases in suicides were likely prompted by stress caused by unemployment, debt, homelessness and insecurity as welfare services were gutted. As austerity set in, many Greeks were left with a “sense of hopelessness,” according to the research.
“The consideration of future austerity measures should give greater weight to the unintended mental health consequences that may follow and the public messaging of these policies and related events,” the study concluded.
Greece’s new Syriza-led government has vowed to go “cold turkey” on debt repayments owed to the troika of creditors — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union, and European Central Bank (ECB).
Newly signed in Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has also used his first days in office to raise the minimum wage, announcing education reforms and freezing the privatization of one of Greece’s key power plants.
“In 30 years, the highest months of suicide in Greece occurred in 2012. The passage of new austerity measures in June 2011 marked the beginning of significant, abrupt and sustained increases in total suicides,” the study by BMJ Open found.
The two spikes in suicides corresponded with “select austerity-related events” in a nation which has historically had one of the world’s lowest rates of suicide, according to the paper.
When austerity policies first began to be introduced in June 2011, suicide rates increased by 35 percent. Monthly suicide figures peaked in July 2012, when 64 Greeks took their lives – an average of more than two suicides per day. In May 2012, suicide rates again spiked at 62 over the course of the month.
The researchers suggested the increases in suicides were likely prompted by stress caused by unemployment, debt, homelessness and insecurity as welfare services were gutted. As austerity set in, many Greeks were left with a “sense of hopelessness,” according to the research.
“The consideration of future austerity measures should give greater weight to the unintended mental health consequences that may follow and the public messaging of these policies and related events,” the study concluded.
Greece’s new Syriza-led government has vowed to go “cold turkey” on debt repayments owed to the troika of creditors — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union, and European Central Bank (ECB).
Newly signed in Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has also used his first days in office to raise the minimum wage, announcing education reforms and freezing the privatization of one of Greece’s key power plants.
