Collateral Damage: Suicide and Economic Recession
Friday, November 7th, 2008Economic recession and depressions are well known to bring about depression and suicidal risks. There are stories of businessmen jumping out of windows following the stock-market crash of 1929.
Unknown to many, people who commits suicide in the wake of economic recessions and financial crises are not individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses. They are commonly middle-aged men in the verge of debt and bankruptcy.
About sixty percent of suicides in 2006 (worldwide) happen in the Asia Pacific region. In Japan, Sri Lanka, and some parts of China report that more than 20 out of 100,000 citizens kill themselves each year. More than twice as many in Australia and New Zealand.
It is also relatively higher in places where it is culturally accepted like in Japan and India. When several countries in Asia- Pacific were hit by an economic crisis in mid- 1990s, there was a relative increase in the number of suicides among middle-aged men. This group were said to be the most affected group by the economic recession.