[MGSA-L] Suicides double in Greece in 2009-2011 period

June Samaras june.samaras at gmail.com
Mon Sep 9 20:35:17 PDT 2013


http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_09/09/2013_517888

Suicides double in Greece in 2009-2011 period


A day ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, reports suggest that the
doubling of the number of suicides in Greece in the three-year period
between 2009 and 2011 represents a trend that shows no sign of abating this
year.

Combined data by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the Citizens'
Protection Ministry and the European statistical agency Eurostat show that
Greece went from being one of the countries with the smallest number of
suicides in the world to seeing suicides double in the three years between
2009 and 2011.

The number of deaths by suicide rose from 2.5 per 100,000 of the population
before 2009 to over five per 100,000, or 1,245 in the three-year period
during which the country was hit by a combination of deep recession and
tough austerity measures. Meanwhile, the data also show that the ratio in
deaths by suicide between men and women is at 6:1.

Official data are not available for the period from 2011 to the present,
though a report by the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency published on
Monday said that the local branch of the Suicide Prevention Network has
recorded 231 suicides from January to August this year alone.

While many link the rise in suicides directly to the economic crisis, a
psychiatrist at Klimaka, a non-governmental organization that provides
shelter and support to the Greek capital's homeless and indigent
population, suggests that linking the two may be misleading.

Kyriakos Katsadoros argues that "the crisis does not have a direct causal
effect on suicides, but, rather, creates or worsens the conditions that
push vulnerable people who would otherwise not resort to such action to the
edge."

Data by the World Health Organization and the International Association for
Suicide Prevention (IASP) show that the suicide rate on a global scale is
16 people per 100,000, accounting for an average 1 million deaths a year.

Depression and substance abuse are cited as the key triggers.

Meanwhile, the WHO estimates that an average of 3,000 people make an
attempt at taking their own life every day, saying that those who succeed
have often made as many as 20 attempts at some earlier stage.

The social stigma attached to suicides and insufficient public awareness
campaigns educating the public in spotting the signs among their family,
friends and colleagues are, according to international and local
authorities, key factors in rising suicide rates.

"People do not talk about suicide because they do not want to be
stigmatized, while, for the same reason, they do not make use of the social
services available," the Public Health Directorate of the regional
authority of Central Macedonia said in a statement on Monday.

"This kind of stigma is deeply rooted in some societies, though in most it
is a sign of ignorance or lack of information," the statement added.

-------------------------------
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com
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