Mental illness, behavioral economics, and the New York Times are all fascinating topics to me. So when the NYT ran this article, which shows evidence that suicide rates are correlated with business cycles. Excerpt from the article:
"To investigate the effect of business cycles, the researchers calculated the average rate during periods when the economy contracted and compared it with the average during the years leading to downturns. The sharpest increase occurred at the start of the Great Depression, when rates jumped 23 percent — to 22.1 in 1932, from 18.0 in 1928. The study found smaller bumps during the oil crisis of the early 1970s and the double-dip recession of the early 1980s, among other economic troughs.
The suicide rate generally fell during periods of economic expansion, with some exceptions. Rates among people in their 30s and 40s went up during the booming 1960s and actually decreased among the elderly in the severe recession of the mid-1970s.
Cultural factors played a role, the authors argue. “The social unrest and tumult of the 1960s may have added to young people’s mental stress and therefore contributed to their continually rising suicide rates,” they wrote. “For the elderly groups, the rapid increase in Social Security benefits in the late 1960s may have provided a safety net in hard times.”"
As the article goes on to point out, suicide is rare and difficult to predict, making studies like this extremely difficult. As such, it's hugely exciting that this came out, and I think it highlights the complex relationship between a person's inherent vulnerabilities and their environment.
In other news related to suicide, I heard the following quote this weekend regarding a homocide: "This isn't like a suicide. There are lots of people involved." This made me sad, because one of the saddest things about suicide is that there are usually a lot of people involved. Just because there's no court date doesn't mean there are no trials.
"To investigate the effect of business cycles, the researchers calculated the average rate during periods when the economy contracted and compared it with the average during the years leading to downturns. The sharpest increase occurred at the start of the Great Depression, when rates jumped 23 percent — to 22.1 in 1932, from 18.0 in 1928. The study found smaller bumps during the oil crisis of the early 1970s and the double-dip recession of the early 1980s, among other economic troughs.
The suicide rate generally fell during periods of economic expansion, with some exceptions. Rates among people in their 30s and 40s went up during the booming 1960s and actually decreased among the elderly in the severe recession of the mid-1970s.
Cultural factors played a role, the authors argue. “The social unrest and tumult of the 1960s may have added to young people’s mental stress and therefore contributed to their continually rising suicide rates,” they wrote. “For the elderly groups, the rapid increase in Social Security benefits in the late 1960s may have provided a safety net in hard times.”"
As the article goes on to point out, suicide is rare and difficult to predict, making studies like this extremely difficult. As such, it's hugely exciting that this came out, and I think it highlights the complex relationship between a person's inherent vulnerabilities and their environment.
In other news related to suicide, I heard the following quote this weekend regarding a homocide: "This isn't like a suicide. There are lots of people involved." This made me sad, because one of the saddest things about suicide is that there are usually a lot of people involved. Just because there's no court date doesn't mean there are no trials.
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