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      The true cost of the economic crisis on psychological well-being: a review

      review-article
      Psychology Research and Behavior Management
      Dove Medical Press
      economic recession, mental health, suicide, social protection, austerity, review

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          Abstract

          The recent economic crisis has led to many negative consequences, not the least having to do with the mental health and well-being of the populations involved. Although some researchers say it is still too early to speak about a relationship between the economic crisis and a rise in mental health problems resulting in suicides, there is solid evidence for the existence of such a relationship. However, several moderating or mediating mechanisms can also play a role. The main reactions of most policy makers to the economic crisis are (severe) austerity measures. These measures seem to have, however, a detrimental effect on the mental health of the population: Just when people have the highest need for mental help, cost-cutting measures in the health care sector lead to a (substantial) drop in the supply of services for the prevention, early detection, and cure of mental health problems. Policy makers should support moderating mechanisms such as financial and psychological coping and acculturation and the role of primary health care workers in the early detection of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and suicide in times of economic recession. Several examples show that the countries best off regarding the mental health of their populations during the economic crisis are those countries with the strongest social safety net. Therefore, instead of cutting back on health care and social welfare measures, policy makers should in the future invest even more in social protection measures during economic crises.

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          Twelve-month prevalence of and risk factors for suicide attempts in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys.

          Although suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, clinicians and researchers lack a data-driven method to assess the risk of suicide attempts. This study reports the results of an analysis of a large cross-national epidemiologic survey database that estimates the 12-month prevalence of suicidal behaviors, identifies risk factors for suicide attempts, and combines these factors to create a risk index for 12-month suicide attempts separately for developed and developing countries. Data come from the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys (conducted 2001-2007), in which 108,705 adults from 21 countries were interviewed using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The survey assessed suicidal behaviors and potential risk factors across multiple domains, including sociodemographic characteristics, parent psychopathology, childhood adversities, DSM-IV disorders, and history of suicidal behavior. Twelve-month prevalence estimates of suicide ideation, plans, and attempts are 2.0%, 0.6%, and 0.3%, respectively, for developed countries and 2.1%, 0.7%, and 0.4%, respectively, for developing countries. Risk factors for suicidal behaviors in both developed and developing countries include female sex, younger age, lower education and income, unmarried status, unemployment, parent psychopathology, childhood adversities, and presence of diverse 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders. Combining risk factors from multiple domains produced risk indices that accurately predicted 12-month suicide attempts in both developed and developing countries (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.74-0.80). Suicidal behaviors occur at similar rates in both developed and developing countries. Risk indices assessing multiple domains can predict suicide attempts with fairly good accuracy and may be useful in aiding clinicians in the prediction of these behaviors. © Copyright 2010 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
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            Health effects of financial crisis: omens of a Greek tragedy.

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              Huge variation in Russian mortality rates 1984-94: artefact, alcohol, or what?

              According to published data, between 1984 and 1994 mortality rates in Russia initially underwent a rapid decline followed by an even steeper increase. In 1994, male life expectancy at birth was 57.6 years, having fallen by 6.2 years since 1990. There has been concern that such striking fluctuations in mortality are an artefact, although, among other factors, alcohol consumption has been implicated. We analysed the age-specific and cause-specific patterns of mortality decrease and increase by use of data from a newly reconstructed mortality series for Russia so that we could examine the plausibility of various explanations for the mortality trends. All major causes of death, with the exception of neoplasms, showed declines in mortality between 1984 and 1987 and increases between 1987 and 1994. In relative terms, these tended to be largest for the age-group 40-50 years; surprisingly, they were of the same magnitude among women and men. The largest declines and subsequent increases in proportional terms were observed for alcohol-related deaths and accidents and violence. However, pronounced effects were also seen for deaths from infections, circulatory disease, and respiratory disease. No substantial variations were seen for neoplasms. The stability of mortality from neoplasms in contrast to other causes over the period 1984-94 largely precludes the possibility that the changes in life expectancy are mainly an artefact, particularly one due to underestimation of the population. Although factors such as nutrition and health services may be involved, the evidence is that substantial changes in alcohol consumption over the period could plausibly explain the main features of the mortality fluctuations observed. These results provide a major challenge to public health in Russia and to our understanding of the determinants of alcohol consumption and its role in explaining mortality patterns within and between many other countries.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Psychol Res Behav Manag
                Psychol Res Behav Manag
                Psychology Research and Behavior Management
                Psychology Research and Behavior Management
                Dove Medical Press
                1179-1578
                2015
                09 January 2015
                : 8
                : 17-25
                Affiliations
                Medical Sociology and Health Policy, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
                Author notes
                Correspondence: Guido Van Hal, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium, Tel +32 3 265 25 20, Fax +32 3 265 28 75, Email guido.vanhal@ 123456uantwerp.be
                Article
                prbm-8-017
                10.2147/PRBM.S44732
                4295900
                25657601
                5b9c32ef-a131-4bf9-97ec-736282b8676c
                © 2015 Van Hal. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License

                The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.

                History
                Categories
                Review

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                economic recession,mental health,suicide,social protection,austerity,review

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