Risk of suicide in households threatened with eviction: the role of banks and social support

Abstract

Background One of the greatest effects of the financial crisis in Spain has been the enormous increase in the number of evictions. Several studies have shown the association of evictions with different aspects of the physical and mental health. Furthermore, evictions have been associated with an increased risk of suicide. Our objective was to evaluate the risk of suicide among victims of eviction and investigate whether it is associated with specific characteristics of households and interviewees, the eviction process and social support, and health needs. Methods A total of 205 participants from households threatened with eviction in Granada, Spain, and 673 being the total number of members of these households, were interviewed in one-on-one sessions between April 2013 and May 2014. Through a questionnaire, information was obtained on physical and mental health, characteristics of their eviction process and support networks, and the use of health services. Results Almost half of the sample (46.7%) were at low (11.8%), moderate (16.9%), or high suicide risk (17.9%). Household and interviewee features had a limited association with suicide risk. On the contrary, the risk of suicide is greater with a longer exposure to the eviction process. In addition, threatening phone calls from banks increased significantly the risk of suicide, especially among men. Suicide risk was also associated with low social support, especially among women. Interviewees at risk of suicide received more help from nongovernmental organizations than those who were not at risk. In interviewees at risk, the main unmet needs were emotional and psychological help, especially in men. A high percentage of those at risk of suicide declare having large unmeet health needs. Finally, there was a tendency among the evicted at risk of suicide to visit emergency room and primary care more often than those not at risk, especially among women. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that when banks adopt a threatening attitude, suicide risk increases among the evicted. As hypothesized, when the evicted felt socially supported, suicide risk decreased. Emotional help was the main mediator of suicide risk and the main unmet need, especially among men.

Structural determinants of suicide during the global financial crisis in Spain: Integrating explanations to understand a complex public health problem

“…These variations have also been found at local levels in previous work [32]. Along the general association pattern for the country, both the 1992 recession and the 2011 recession were found to be associated with increasing suicides rates in adjusted models (Table 3), however, the measurement of the 2008 economic downturn still remain partially inconsistent with previous studies that found an increase in suicides during the first years of financial crisis [32][33][34][35][36].…”

“…For instance, the relevance of some of the social protection measures such as unemployment protection and, perhaps to a lesser extent, disability and family protection, became evident in the analysis [39]. In particular, our models showed the importance of social protection for unemployed population, a branch of expenditure that presented a negative relationship with the suicide rate in some groups (e.g., [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][35][36][37][38][39], and 50-54 years old).…”

State minimum wage, paid sick leave, and food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…32 There are also several studies indicating that higher minimum wage is associated with reduced suicide 33,34 and that people in low-income households are at elevated risk of suicide due to shocks that may be brought on by COVID-19 economic conditions, such as unemployment and eviction. [35][36][37][38] Evaluating the relationship between policies and health during the COVID-19 pandemic can inform policies that improve health during the continued pandemic and during the period of recovery in the wake of the pandemic. In this analysis, we evaluated the relationship between state minimum wage policies and food insufficiency.…”

El impacto de la Gran Recesión en la salud mental en España. Informe SESPAS 2020

“…El modelo conceptual más frecuente en la literatura sobre los mecanismos por los que las crisis económicas afectan a la salud mental tiene como eje el mercado laboral y las consecuencias derivadas del desempleo y la carencia de rentas 2 , 3 , incluyendo el efecto de la presión económica sobre el estrés familiar 4 . Las consecuencias finales sobre la salud mental de las personas se ven condicionadas por circunstancias personales y familiares, así como por las respuestas políticas y sociales que se dan ante los cambios macroeconómicos adversos 5 .…”