Today in El Diario: Suicides Up When the Economy Tanks
Broke people tend to kill themselves
Suicides go up considerably during recessions, according to El Diario, the Spanish-language daily. The data, from a report published Thursday, also notes that fewer people kill themselves during economic booms.
A Centers for Disease control report indicates that suicide rates are directly tied to economic cycles.
As detailed in the research, suicides surged during the 1929-1933 Great Depression, the 1937-1938 New Deal, the 1973-1975 Oil Crisis, and the recession in the early 1980s.
During the Great Depression, suicides hit their all-time historic high in the U.S., the paper reports: 22.1 for every 100,000 people. In 2000, U.S. suicides were at an all-time low, with 10 per 100,000 people.
In general, the 24-65 age group shows the strongest correlation between economic bubbles, busts, and suicide.
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