Economic recession and economic depressions are well known to bring about increased anxiety leading to depression and higher suicidal tendencies. The stock market crash of 1929 is a great example of how emotional states can lead to self-inflected harm. In some cases, peopel resorted to suicide to end their pain caused from the loss they suffered.

Unknown to many, people who commit suicide in the wake of economic recessions and financial crises are not individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses.  They are commonly middle-aged men on the verge of debt and bankruptcy or pushed to the brink.

About sixty percent of suicides in 2006 (worldwide) took place in the Asia Pacific region.   In Japan, Sri Lanka, and some parts of China reports are that more than 20 out of 100,000 citizens kill themselves each year.  More than twice as many in Australia and New Zealand. Of course this is also driven by cultural factors.

When several countries in Asia-Pacific were hit by an economic crisis in mid-1990s, there was a relative increase in the number of suicides among middle-aged men.  This group were said to be the most affected group by the economic recession.

Aside from economic factors being an underlying reason for suicide, it is also driven by societal values related to shame and humiliation. In societies where these matter a lot such as in Asian countries, suicide levels tend to increase during economic recessions.

Economic recession has great effects on youth and children, with poverty and financial difficulties at times pushing them towards suicide.  In Israel in 2003, a 15 year old killed himself when the family’s electricity service was cut.  In the suicide note, the teen-ager mentioned that he does not want to be a burden to his mother who raised him as a single parent.

In the Philippines back in 2007, an 11 year old girl ended her life because of poverty.  In her suicide note, she wished that her parents will have a stable job and that her siblings would be able to go to school regularly.  This incident drew attention towards the poverty programs the government has in the country.

Governments and concerned institutions globally are taking steps to address this issue.

An example would be the steps being undertaken by the Japanese government.  Some new measures are changing work patterns to allow more flexibility and funding early detection and treatment programs.

The Japanese government are also providing better mental health counselling at the workplace, networks of community psychiatrists and public campaigns to raise the awareness of the problem. Telephone hot line services are also readily available. There is a new software being developed to filter out websites that promote group suicides.
Australia, in Asia-Pacific, is the first country to initiate the prevention of web based suicide groups.

Aside from government efforts, there are personal steps you can take to help a suicidal person:

1. A suicidal person is carrying a burden that they can’t handle anymore. Listening is important.

2. Be sympathetic, non- judgemental, patient, calm and understanding.

3. Avoid trying to offer quick solutions by belittling the person’s feelings.

4. Dealing with a suicide threat is stressful.  Seek assistance o decompress afterwards.

6. Try to pursuade the person to seek professional help or help the person to get some professional help. Suicide issues are extremely complicated.

6. If personal efforts fails, don’t blame yourself. It is the person’s choice. It is wise to ask for grief counselling and suicide survivor support groups.

An economic recession occurs when there is a significant decline in the economy over a period of several quarters. This is reflected in lower of  consumer spending, workplace employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale trade.

A technical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

According to experts, an economic recession is normal because it is part of the business cycle with things normally improving within 16 to 18 months.

The business cycle includes periods of recovery, expansion, slowdown and recession. During recovery, the GDP begins to improves. When the GDP grows robustly, expansion occurs at a broad level.  This may be then followed by a slowdown occasioned lower consumer spending.  This then leads to weaker demand for goods and services which can lead to a recession.

The last economic recession occurred in 2000 and 2001 which featured three quarters of negative growth followed by three positive quarters then five more quarters of sub par growth. Experts say that the same trend will happen right now, that is in the current recession that started in 2007.

One strategy that the government usually uses to stimulate economic activity  is to lower interest rates.  Just last year, the Federal government slashed interest rates three times towards the end of the third and fourth quarters so that overnight loans between banks could be borrowed at 4.25% which happens to be its lowest in the past 2 years.

Experts say that what makes this economic recession different from what occurred after the Second World War is that this one is caused by falling home values and a crisis of confidence among fixed income investors.

Despite the fact that the country has endured this phenomena time and again for over 50 years, there is still no way to predict when it will happen.

Some use the stock market as an indicator. Others use the inverted yield curve which uses yields on a 10 year and three month Treasury securities and the Fed’s overnight fund’s rate. The unemployment rate is also another which happens to be one of the things that make up the index of leading indicators. But the unemployment rate is what is called a lagging indicator, meaning that it indicates what has happened in the past but is useless in predicting the future.

An economic recession lasts months at a time. If it should continue for a much longer period, then this is called a depression which is something that the world and not only the US experienced at the end of the First World War. This lasted for up to 4 years that many hope will never happen again.