Suicide Rates Rise and Fall With the Economy
Apr-16-2011

Suicides in the United States appear to increase in hard times and decrease during years of prosperity, according to a new government report.
The image of people jumping from windows after the stock market crash of 1929 graphically illustrates the pattern detected by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The overall suicide rate rises and falls in connection with the economy," said lead researcher Feijun Luo, a health economist in the division of violence prevention at the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
"The strongest association between business cycles and suicides was among working-age people 25 to 64 years old," he said.
Co-author Dr. Alexander E. Crosby, a medical epidemiologist in the division of violence prevention at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said economic hardship may trigger suicidal impulses in those already at risk of killing themselves.
"Suicide results from an interaction of a number of different factors," Crosby said. "Other studies have shown there is an association between suicide and unemployment, suicide and economic issues, and it can make vulnerable people more prone to be at risk for suicidal behavior," he said.

Read the rest of the article right here: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/mental-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100271636

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