Wave of Suicides Shocks Greece

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/economic-crisis-triggers-wave-of-suicides-in-greece-a-850129.html



This memorial is to Anthony Perris, 60, who allegedly pushed his 90-year-old mother from a rooftop before jumping himself. "My life has become a constant tragedy," he wrote in a suicide note.

On July 16, a businessman and father of three hanged himself in his shop on the island of Crete. A 49-year-old man from Patras was found by his son. He had also hanged himself. On July 25, a 79-year-old man on the southern Peloponnese peninsula hanged himself with a cable tied to an olive tree. On August 3, a 31-year-old man shot himself to death at his home near Olympia. On August 5, a 15-year-old boy hanged himself in Pieria. And, on August 6, a 60-year-old former footballer self-immolated in Chalcis.

These are also reports from Greece, reports that, at first glance, seem to have nothing to do with the economy. They come together to form a grim statistic, raising questions of what is triggering the suicides and whether the high incidence is merely a coincidence.
Or do people see suicide as a way out of the crisis that has taken hold of their country and their lives? Are they bowing out before things get even worse? Germany and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are opposed to a new bailout package for Athens. The country faces a shortfall of at least €40 billion ($49 billion). Greece could very well be officially bankrupt by the fall.

Greece, a country whose Orthodox Church does not condone suicide, has always had one of the lowest suicide rates in Europe. But now, there were 350 suicide attempts and 50 deaths in Athens in June alone. Most of the suicides were among members of the middle class and, in many cases, the act itself was carried out in public, almost as if it were a theatrical performance.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. K & R nt

[riderinthestorm]

2. Awful reality of austerity economics. A deeply saddened K&R for more exposure for the story

because this could very well be the next phase for many other places too (Italy, Spain, Portugal etc....)

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Absolutely. But it'll be like the climate deniers. "No relationship here whatsoever!"

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. (Italy, Spain, Portugal etc....) & USA.

Too many people are trapped between permanent collage debt, no job, no housing..it is happening here, and will get worse.

[riderinthestorm]

12. Agreed. Just really sad. nt

[ParkieDem]

13. Maybe, but ...

Suicide is a baffling, tragic issue that is usually difficult to describe across cultures. Based on this chart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

economic well-being doesn't seem to be that correlated with suicide rates. France, Austria and even Norway have higher rates of suicide than the United States, which in turn has a higher rate than Zimbabwe, of all places (yes, Haiti is last on this list, but my guess is that's because of lack of data).

[riderinthestorm]

14. Maybe my correlation's are off but the sudden imposition of severe austerity measures

in the past two years, combined with the self-reported despair about their economic situations and the future, and the hard evidence that the suicide rate has skyrocketed. leads me to believe the people are reacting to their financial issues in Greece.




Full disclaimer: I'm not an expert on suicide however (thank gawd) so I am only surmising that the austerity measures are the biggest reason for this spike in suicide in Greece.

[phantom power]

4. shocking that casting hundreds of thousands of people into poverty increases suicide...

...just like it's "shocking" that throwing the middle class under the bus with "austerity" to prop up the banksters increases poverty to begin with.

[ananda]

5. This happened here during the Great Depression too.

nt

[AngryAmish]

6. So the almighty Euro is finally killing people

Why is Greece so fucked up economically? They can't leave the Euro. Normally, when a country fucks itself up it has it's own currency which becomes devalued. Prices fall. The local economy gets a boost when imports becomes too expensive. But Greece can't do that. Prices remain high because they can't devalue.

[LiberalLoner]

7. When the oligarchy decides to cull the working class, terrible things happen.

Suicides, death from lack of healthcare and too much stress, starvation, death from exposure to heat or cold, and the usual favorite, war and genocide whipped up to cull the herd some.

The oligarchy has decided, worldwide, it's time for us (the 99%) to do some dying again. As in most of us, actually. Will we be good little sheeple or will we fight back? I'm in the sheeple category myself, if it comes down to it I will just die quietly in some corner. But I will cheer loudly if the guillotines ever make a comeback.

[hlthe2b]

8. I strongly suspect the next 5-10 years will show an increase here too.

This is what happens when those in power turn its back on its people in favor of the few.

May those we've lost and may yet lose find a happier and more peaceful realm.

[Rowdyboy]

9. How horribly sad to feel you have no other choice but to end your life because of economic

forces you have no control over.

[DonRedwood]

10. On the flip side there are a bunch of greek bankers and tycoons who are probably

doing better than ever.

That's the sick side of it. The money all went somewhere....