Health and the financial crisis in Greece/Authors' reply

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 379; no. 9820; p. 1000
• Main Authors: Polyzos, Nikos, Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N, Grammatikopoulos, Ilias A, Koupidis, Sotirios A, Siamouli, Melina, Theodorakis, Pavlos N, Kentikelenis, Alexander, Karanikolos, Marina, Papanicolas, Irene, Basu, Sanjay, McKee, Martin, Stuckler, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Limited 17.03.2012
• Subjects: Behavior; Data envelopment analysis; Economic crisis; Health problems; Health services; Mass media; Mental disorders; Poisoning; Poverty; Risk factors; Risk taking; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X

[...] the claim that "there were about 40% cuts in hospital budgets" is untrue. [...] Kentikelenis and colleagues' data on drug users, rehabilitation, and violence are under consideration. Conditions of poverty can increase the risk of mental illness, and people with mental health problems are more likely to be pushed into poverty through increased health costs, loss of employment, reduced work hours, and stigma.7 In this frame, several risk factors for suicidal behaviour have been identified and have been classified as primary (such as the presence of psychiatric and medical disorders, severe somatic illness, previous suicide attempts), secondary (adverse life situations and psychosocial risk factors), and tertiary (demographic factors such as male sex and old age).8,9 The risk of suicide seems to be highest when primary risk factors are present; the presence of secondary and tertiary risk factors indicate a high suicide risk almost exclusively in the presence of primary risk factors.8,10 So far there are no data to support a causal link between the economic crisis and suicide, and reports in the mass media and journals are premature over interpretations.