Suicide and unemployment in Italy, 1982-1994

Abstract

Results-Suicide rates among the unemployed are clearly and constantly higher than those among the employed: up to three times higher among men, and twice as high among women. Among the unemployed a clear and significant rise in suicide rates in both sexes took place over the study period; suicide rates among the employed showed a less marked increase. The rise in suicide rates was accompanied by a concurrent rise in unemployment rate percentage. Men seem to be aVected most by this change in unemployment rate percentage; women are subject to less evident influences and variations. Conclusion-DiVerent suicidal behaviour trends among unemployed compared with employed people indicate that unemployment (and above all the prospect of not having access to a working role) acts as a contributing factor for suicide. Unemployment, even if symptomatic of a mental disorder, should therefore always be taken into consideration as a risk factor for suicide: the potentially lethal consequences of its negative influence on both self esteem and the ability to use supportive networks in a eYcient way is an element to which great attention should be paid. (J Epidemiol Community Health 1999;53:694-701) In Italy and in other Western countries there has been a progressive rise in suicide rates for both sexes over the past 20 years, especially among young people.

Effects of short- and long-term unemployment on physical work capacity and on serum cortisol

“…Kraut et al (2000) reported that unemployment produces disorders of the mental state, which lead to increased hospitalisation rates. An association between unemployment and suicidal behaviour has also been documented (Fergusson et al 1997;Preti et al 1999).…”

“…Large prospective studies provide evidence for increased mortality (Osler et al 2003) and for an increase in cardiovascular diseases (Weber et al 1997) in the unemployed. Moreover, even strong indications of an association between unemployment and suicide have been found (Preti et al 1999).…”

Seasonality of Suicide: Relationship with the Reason for Suicide

“…Gabennesch's 'broken-promise effect' has been explored in many studies, which have indeed given some support to his theories [31,32] . Financial loss or job loss and unemployment may contribute to the risk of suicide attributable to economic reasons [33] , and these influences may vary by season: for farmers and tourism workers autumn may represent a time of temporary underemployment, with consequent increased economic troubles. However, the suicides attributable to economic reasons showed a very high coefficient of variation across the years, a likely reflection of these suicides being influenced by events that do not recur on a seasonal basis but depend on unforeseeable financial unevenness.…”

Social-Environmental Factors and Suicide Mortality: A Narrative Review of over 200 Articles

“…While most studies have reported that higher unemployment is accompanied by an increase in suicide rates (Abe, 2004;Andres & Halicioglu, 2010;Berk et al, 2006;Blakely, Collings, & Atkinson, 2003;Chang, Sterne, Huang, Chuang, & Gunnell, 2010;Chen, Yip, Lee, Fan, & Fu, 2010;Chuang & Huang, 2007;Corcoran & Arensman, 2011;Fernquist, 2007;Kuroki, 2010;Lewis & Sloggett, 1998;Lin, 2006;Milner, McClure, et al, 2012;Preti & Miotto, 1999;Tsai & Cho, 2011;Yamasaki, Sakai, & Shirakawa, 2005;Ying & Chang, 2009), a smaller number of studies have found no or mixed evidence of this association Crawford & Prince, 1999;Lucey et al, 2005;Platt, Micciolo, & Tansella, 1992).…”

“…Past research indicates that unemployment has a stronger in-fluence on male suicide than female suicide (Berk et al, 2006;Blakely et al, 2003;Chan, Yip, Wong, & Chen, 2007;Kuroki, 2010;Preti & Miotto, 1999;Pritchard, 1992;Qin, Mortensen, Agerbo, Westergard-Nielsen, & Eriksson, 2000). However, other research casts some doubt on these gender-specific findings (Chen et al, 2010;Kposowa, 2001).…”