LONDON - 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.
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 per cent increase in the number of unemployed people was associated with a
1.4 per cent 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.
Depression, Anxiety, Alcohol
abuse
A survey of 300 family doctors
published by the Insight Research Group on Tuesday found that 76 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent less than before the economic crisis.
Government debt is well above a
trillion pounds and is predicted to rise above 90 per cent 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 per cent.
Stuckler's BMJ study found that
the number of unemployed men rose on average across Britain by 25.6 per cent
each year from 2008 to 2010, a rise associated with a yearly increase in male
suicides of 3.6 per cent.
"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 UN health body also estimated
that for every suicide, there are up to 20 attempted ones.
Reuters
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