David Gunnell

It’s over seven years since the onset of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and we’re beginning to get a clear idea of its impact on mental health and suicide.

In keeping with previous economic recessions, the 2008 financial crisis was followed by rises in suicide deaths in many affected countries. As documented in an article published in the British Medical Journal in 2013, younger men appear to have been particularly badly affected.

Recently published research in the International Journal of Epidemiology has provided new insights into the impact of economic down turns on mental health. Using Ireland’s impressive National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm and national suicide data, Paul Corcoran and colleagues found that there were increases in suicide and self-harm in men and women in Ireland in the years after recession began. The greatest rises were seen in men. There were an estimated 8,800 excess episodes of self-harm (mainly suicide attempts) and 560 suicide deaths in 2008-12 compared to pre-recession trends.  Continue reading “Economic recession, mental health and suicide” →