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Durban – The 2008 economic crash could be to blame for thousands of excess suicides worldwide.
This is according to a paper published in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.
It found the rates were highest among males in countries where the most jobs were lost.
In the United States and Canada, male suicides increased by 8.9 percent, while in Europe they increased by 4.2 percent.
A number of countries in Eastern Europe suffered the highest increase with male suicide rising by 13.3 percent.
There was no change in suicide in European females and a small increase was seen in US females.
“You can never pinpoint exactly why people commit suicide – it’s always an amalgamation of different stresses,” said Meryl da Costa, the press officer for the South African Depression and Anxiety Group.
Da Costa said in South Africa, HIV and depression as well as poverty related to unemployment were big drivers of suicide.
Males were four-and-a-half times more likely to commit suicide then women, but this was because they were more successful as they used more violent methods.
The Mercury
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