Citation

Fountoulakis KN, Kawohl W, Theodorakis PN, Kerkhof AJ, Navickas A, Höschl C, Lecić-Tosevski D, Sorel E, Rancāns E, Palova E, Juckel G, Isacsson G, Korosec Jagodic H, Botezat-Antonescu I, Warnke I, Rybakowski J, Azorin JM, Cookson J, Waddington J, Pregelj P, Demyttenaere K, Hranov LG, Injac Stevovic L, Pezawas L, Adida M, Figuera ML, Pompili M, Jakovljević M, Vichi M, Perugi G, Andrasen O, Vuković O, Mavrogiorgou P, Värnik P, Bech P, Döme P, Winkler P, Salokangas RK, From T, Danileviciute V, Gonda X, Rihmer Z, Forsman Benhalima J, Grady A, Kloster Leadholm AK, Soendergaard S, Nordt C, Lopez-Ibor J. Br. J. Psychiatry 2014; 205(6): 486-496.

Affiliation

Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, 3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; Wolfram Kawohl, MD, Center for Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Pavlos N. Theodorakis, MD, Mental Health Hospitals Trust of Attica 'Dafni & Dromokaiteio' and WHO National Counterpart for Mental Health, Athens, Greece; Ad J. F. M. Kerkhof, MD, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Alvydas Navickas, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychiatric Clinic, Vilnius University Medical Faculty, Vilnius, Lithuania; Cyril Höschl, MD, Prague Psychiatric Center/NIMH, Czech Republic; Dusica Lecic-Tosevski, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Belgrade University School of Medicine and Institute of Mental Health, WHO Collaborating Centre, Belgrade, Serbia; Eliot Sorel, MD, The George Washington University, School of Medicine & School of Public Health, Washington DC, USA; Elmars Rancans, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Narcology, Riga Stradins University, Latvia; Eva Palova, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Slovakia; Georg Juckel, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital, Bochum, Germany; Goran Isacsson, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Helena Korosec Jagodic, Psychiatric Hospital Vojnik, Vojnik, Slovenia; Ileana Botezat-Antonescu, MD, Associate Professor, National Mental Health Center and Anti-drug, Bucharest, Romania; Ingeborg Warnke, PhD, Center for Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Janusz Rybakowski, Department of Adult Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; Jean Michel Azorin, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Sainte Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France; John Cookson, FRCP, FRCPsych, DPhil, East London NHS Trust, London, UK; John Waddington, PhD, Dsc, Molecular & Cellular Therapeutics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Peter Pregelj, University Psychiatric Hospital, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Koen Demyttenaere, University Psychiatric Center KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Luchezar G. Hranov, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Second Psychiatric Clinic, University Hospital for Active Treatment in Neurology and Psychiatry 'Sveti Naum', Sofia, Bulgaria; Lidija Injac Stevovic, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Clinic, Clinical Center of Montenegro, School of Medicine in Podgorica, University of Montenegro, Montenegro; Lucas Pezawas, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Biological Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Marc Adida, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Sainte Marguerite Hospital, Marseille, France; Maria Luisa Figuera, MD, Full Professor of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University Psychiatric Clinic and University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Maurizio Pompili, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Miro Jakovljević, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Croatia; Monica Vichi, MSc, Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (CNESPS), National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy; Giulio Perugi, MD, Professor, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Pisa and Institute of Behavioral Sciences 'G. De Lisio', Pisa, Italy; Ole Andrasen, NORMENT, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Olivera Vukovic, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Institute of Mental Health, Belgrade, Serbia; Paraskevi Mavrogiorgou, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital, Bochum, Germany; Peeter Varnik, Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute, Tallinn, Estonia; Per Bech, Psychiatric Research Unit, Mental Health Centre North Zealand, University of Copenhagen, Hillerød, Denmark; Peter Dome, Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine and National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Laboratory for Suicide Research and Prevention, Budapest, Hungary; Petr Winkler, MD, Prague Psychiatric Center/NIMH, Czech Republic; Raimo K. R. Salokangas, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, Finland; Tiina From, Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Vita Danileviciute, MD, Professor and Head of the Vilnius University Medical Faculty Psychiatric Clinic, Vilnius, Lithuania; Xenia Gonda, PhD, Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Budapest and Department of Pharmacodynamics, Semmelweis University, MTA-SE Neuropsychopharmacology and Neurochemistry Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest and National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Laboratory for Suicide Research and Prevention, Budapest, Hungary; Zoltan Rihmer, MD, Department of Clinical and Theoretical Mental Health, Semmelweis University, Faculty of Medicine and National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Laboratory for Suicide Research and Prevention, Budapest, Hungary; Jonas Forsman Benhalima, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Anne Grady, Cert Business, Molecular & Cellular Therapeutics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Anne Katrine Kloster Leadholm, NORMENT, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction and University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Susan Soendergaard, Psychiatric Research Unit, Mental Health Centre North Zealand, University of Copenhagen, Hillerød, Denmark; Carlos Nordt, PhD, Center for Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Juan Lopez-Ibor, MD, Emeritus Professor, Juan José López-Ibor Foundation and Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Royal College of Psychiatry)

DOI

10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147454

PMID

25359926

Abstract

Background It is unclear whether there is a direct link between economic crises and changes in suicide rates. Aims The Lopez-Ibor Foundation launched an initiative to study the possible impact of the economic crisis on European suicide rates.

METHOD Data was gathered and analysed from 29 European countries and included the number of deaths by suicide in men and women, the unemployment rate, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the annual economic growth rate and inflation.

RESULTS There was a strong correlation between suicide rates and all economic indices except GPD per capita in men but only a correlation with unemployment in women. However, the increase in suicide rates occurred several months before the economic crisis emerged.

CONCLUSIONS Overall, this study confirms a general relationship between the economic environment and suicide rates; however, it does not support there being a clear causal relationship between the current economic crisis and an increase in the suicide rate.

Language: en