Relationship of suicide rates with climate and economic variables in Europe during 2000–2012

Abstract

BackgroundIt is well known that suicidal rates vary considerably among European countries and the reasons for this are unknown, although several theories have been proposed. The effect of economic variables has been extensively studied but not that of climate.MethodsData from 29 European countries covering the years 2000–2012 and concerning male and female standardized suicidal rates (according to WHO), economic variables (according World Bank) and climate variables were gathered. The statistical analysis included cluster and principal component analysis and categorical regression.ResultsThe derived models explained 62.4 % of the variability of male suicidal rates. Economic variables alone explained 26.9 % and climate variables 37.6 %. For females, the respective figures were 41.7, 11.5 and 28.1 %. Male suicides correlated with high unemployment rate in the frame of high growth rate and high inflation and low GDP per capita, while female suicides correlated negatively with inflation. Both male and female suicides correlated with low temperature.DiscussionThe current study reports that the climatic effect (cold climate) is stronger than the economic one, but both are present. It seems that in Europe suicidality follows the climate/temperature cline which interestingly is not from south to north but from south to north-east. This raises concerns that climate change could lead to an increase in suicide rates. The current study is essentially the first successful attempt to explain the differences across countries in Europe; however, it is an observational analysis based on aggregate data and thus there is a lack of control for confounders.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12991-016-0106-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sensitivity to Climate and Weather Changes in Euthymic Bipolar Subjects: Association With Suicide Attempts

“…This finding is relevant, since a history of a prior SA has a documented predictive role for completed suicide, and repeated attempts further increase the risk of death by suicide (51). There is evidence supporting the influence of seasonal changes on suicidal behavior that seems to be related to climatic variance and light exposure, possibly through an interaction with serotonergic and noradrenergic circuits (29,47). Meteorological variables, such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, and sunlight, are linked to changes in the concentration of cerebral neurotransmitters and alterations in the serotonin turnover in the brain (47).…”

“…Of note, climate and weather seem to independently influence suicidal behavior, both in psychiatric patients and in the general population. Fountoulakis et al (29) described a correlation between the number of suicides and environmental temperature in different European countries, and climate changes appeared to influence suicidality even more than socio-economic factors. These observations have been further supported by a recent study that found a significant impact of temperature fluctuations on suicide rates in a large sample of subjects across the USA and Mexico (30).…”

Climate Change: A Call to Action for the Psychiatric Profession

“…Displacement from communities contributes to vulnerability and to the risk of victimization by human trafficking. Higher rates of suicide have been found in populations affected by drought [23], and there are concerns that climate change could elevate suicide rates [32]. Moreover, an increased rate of death in hotter temperatures has been observed in patients with psychosis, dementia, and in those who misuse substances [33].…”

Employment insecurity, mental health and suicide

“…47 Two recent studies clearly dispute it by reporting that suicides increased several months before unemployment increases. 26,48 Essentially in all papers publish until today, a temporal advance of the suicide increase in relationship to the increase in unemployment is observed, although not always reported or commented. Thus the temporal sequence and correlation of events (suicidal rise first, economic recession follows, synchronization of suicidal rate changes across both continents) suggests there is probably a close relationship between the economic environment and suicidal rates; however this relationship is not that of a direct cause and effect between unemployment and suicidality.…”

“…There are several studies published until now, suggesting such a pattern concerning the impact of the economic crisis in European countries 6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Asia 19,20 and the US 15 although different and more complex interpretations also exist. [21][22][23][24][25][26] Τhese reports hit the mass media headlines and were also included in the debate among political parties. However it seems that the variability and the fluctuation of suicide rates across countries encumber the identification of the time point this increase has begun to occur.…”