Financial crisis pushes Greek suicide rate to new highs

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Financial crisis pushes Greek suicide rate to new highs

ATHENS: The suicide rate in Greece has reached a pan-European high, with experts attributing the rise to the country's economic crisis.

Painful austerity measures and a seemingly endless economic drama are exacting a deadly toll on the nation. Statistics released by the Greek Ministry of Health show a 40 per cent rise in those taking their own lives between January and May compared to the same period last year.

Before the financial crisis first began to bite three years ago, Greece had the lowest suicide rate in Europe at 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. It now has almost double that number, the highest on the continent, despite the stigma in a nation where the Orthodox Church refuses funeral rights for those who take their lives. Attempted suicides have also increased.

''It's never just one thing, but almost always debts, joblessness, the fear of being fired are cited when people phone in to say they are contemplating ending their lives,'' said Eleni Beikari, a psychiatrist at the non-governmental organisation Klimaka, which runs a 24-hour suicide hotline.

Klimaka received about 10 calls a day before the crisis; it now gets more than 100 in any 24-hour period.

''Most come from women aged between 30 and 50 and men between 40 and 45 despairing over economic problems,'' Dr Beikari said. ''In my experience it's the men, suffering from hurt dignity and lost pride, who are most serious.''

Psychiatrists have reported a 30 per cent increase in demand for their services over the past year, with most patients citing anxiety and depression brought on by financial fears.

Psychiatrists say the alarming rise signals an urgent need for a national suicide prevention policy in a nation that until now had discounted the need for one.

''Preventative strategies have to be increased,'' Dr Beikari said. ''Teachers, prison guards, priests, police, professionals in a position to spot those who might be suicidal, need to be sensitised. This is an issue that can no longer be ignored.''

❏ Euro zone finance ministers were due to hold talks late yesterday on the debt crisis to flesh out plans made at a Brussels summit this month to save the European currency.

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At the summit Britain refused to sign up to financial measures aimed at shoring up the euro, leaving 26 of the 27 EU nations to work together on the measures.

With several euro zone nations under threat of credit rating downgrades, a focus of the telephone conference will be boosting International Monetary Fund coffers to enable it to come to the aid of floundering members.

Guardian News & Media, Agence France-Presse

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