Researchers link 35% rise in suicides to Greek austerity measures

© Reuters/Marko Djurica

The harsh austerity measures imposed on Greece by its EU creditors led to the major spike in suicides in the country during the peak of its crisis in 2011 and 2012, a survey by the UK's leading medical magazine said.

he report by BMJ Open said.

The scientists, who analyzed data gathered by the Hellenic Statistical Authority from over the past 30 years, said that a total of 11,505 Greeks took their own lives - 9,079 men and 2,426 women - from 1983 to 2012.

The number of total suicides rose by over 35 per cent in June 2011 when the austerity measures were introduced, leading to violent protests and strikes, the research said. The number of people taking their lives was rising until the end of the year and continued into 2012, it added.

On average, an extra 11.2 suicides occurred every month in Greece, which is described in the paper as a country which historically had "one of the lowest suicide rates in the world."

the report said.

There was another spike in April 2012, after a retired pharmacist, Dimitris Christoulas, shot himself outside the Greek Parliament. The intense media coverage of an act undertaken by a desperate man, who blamed governmental austerity policies for the decision to take own life, might have provoked the so-called 'suicide contagion', the survey said.

The study revealed that men, who remain Greece's top earners, were more heavily affected by austerity than women; suicide rates among males began rising in 2008 when the recession began. It increased by over 13 per cent in 2010 and rose by an extra 18.5 per cent (5.2 suicides) every month, starting from June 2011.

"The sense of hopelessness," which led to an overall spike in suicides was likely provoked by that according to the report.

On the contrary, the study said that there was a decrease in suicides among men during The number of men taking their own lives in Greece dropped 27 per cent in 2002 when the country adopted the euro.

the BNJ Open's research team concluded.

In late January, Greece elected Europe's first anti-austerity government as the radical leftist Syriza party won the country's legislative election, claiming 149 seats in the 300 seat parliament. The party, led by Alexis Tsipras, rose to popularity after it promised to renegotiate Greek debt and put an end to strict economic measures in the country.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://bit.ly/1xcsdoI.