Recessions linked to suicides and mental health problems, academics conclude

Economic recessions and policies of austerity have been linked with a rising number of suicides and mental health problems after a major review of scientific studies carried out mostly in Spain and Greece.

However, the review, published in leading medical journal The BMJ, concluded the majority of the studies showed evidence of bias and the findings should be treated with caution.

The researchers, from City University London and Stanford University in the US, said most of the studies found an increase in suicides during the 2008 financial crisis, particularly among men.

The mental health of women, they said, appeared to suffer more than men. There was also evidence that immigrants’ health suffered more than the native citizens of a country.

In the BMJ article, they wrote: “The amount of evidence on the impact of the financial crisis on health outcomes in Europe is growing.

“Of the 41 studies that met our criteria and were analysed, the vast majority focused on two countries in the south: Spain and Greece. The main health outcomes that these studies explored were suicides and mental health.

“Most studies on suicides showed an increase in suicides during the financial crisis, in particular among men. Studies looking at mental health found similar increases, but these results were more mixed.

“In terms of mental health, however, women seemed to have performed worse than men.”

However, they said most studies had a “substantial risk of bias and, therefore, we should be cautious with the interpretation of the results”.

Only two studies had a low risk of bias, the researchers concluded.

One found self-rated health and mental health had deteriorated among unemployed people in Greece, compared to those with a job. The other study found a temporary increase in hypertension among pregnant women in Iceland.

The researchers said there was a need for better studies into the effect of recessions on health to help avoid any harmful effects.

Writing a commentary in The BMJ, public health experts Ben Barr, of Liverpool university, and David Taylor-Robinson, of The Farr Institute in Liverpool, said while governments might not be able to prevent recession from happening “their response is a matter of political choice, which has important consequences for health”.

“Governments can mitigate the harmful effects of recession, stimulate growth, manage problems with public finances, or they can exploit the crisis to push through policies that would be politically unacceptable at other times,” they wrote.

“It is therefore critical to distinguish between the health effects of recessions and the effect of different policy responses to recession.”

They pointed to studies not included in the review which found an increase in suicides in the England during the 2008 recession and another rise in 2011 following the implementation of austerity measures.

“With the possibility of another recession in post-Brexit Britain, [this] helpful review shows that recessions can harm health.

“Doctors need to advocate for social and welfare policies that are informed by the evidence available and evaluated for their health effects, so that they protect people during crises rather than creating further health problems.”