Unemployment Linked to Tens of Thousands of Suicides Annually
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iStock/Thinkstock(ZURICH) — Unemployment is one of life’s most traumatic events but a new study from the University of Zurich suggests its effects are a lot more dire than people imagine.
The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, states that being out of work may be responsible each year for anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of all suicides globally.
Study author Carlos Nordt adds that people who are unemployed will take their lives in both good economic times and bad and that suicide doesn’t discriminate between men and women, no matter what their age.
Nordt and his team looked at data from more than 60 countries in four different regions, recording 233,000 suicides during an 11-year period beginning in 2000. They then estimated that 45,000 of these deaths could be traced to people who were out of work.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the researchers also learned that the risk of suicide was greater in countries with a lower unemployment rate, a suggestion that shame also contributes to the despair of those out of work.
Ultimately, the study recommended that suicide prevention strategies worldwide must also include the mental toll unemployment takes on people.
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