The unemployed commit suicide at a rate two or three times the national average, researchers estimate. And in many cases, the longer the spell of unemployment, the higher the likelihood of suicide. On online fora such as Unemployed-Friends, the topic comes up often, users finding news reports or hearing tell of deaths in their community, and mourning them. There was the Staten Island suicide, where an emergency medical services employee who thought himself about to be fired posted his final words on Facebook: “I can’t go on anymore. I just hung myself...”
The stories appear in letters to Congress as well. “My dad, S, killed himself March 16, 2009 because he ran out of money and could not find work. My whole family had been devastated by the economy. He was 61 years old and could not take it anymore. He could not figure out how to keep the electric on, buy food, or keep a roof over his head. A day before his electric was to be shut off, and 2 weeks away from eviction, my dad took the hardest walk of his life. He left a note on the dining room table for my sister and I. His suicide letter said ‘I love you. I had to do this. I ran out of money. I wish you both luck in your lives’. He left the door unlocked with the door key left in the lock. He carefully laid out two suits for us to pick from to bury him in,” one person from Forest Hills, N.Y., wrote to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D)...
The stories show the deeper wounds of unemployment, and especially long-term unemployment. It is not just the loss of a job, but the loss of community, routine and purpose. It means worse health. It means higher rates of divorce. It means alcohol abuse. All of these are also risk factors for suicide...
During the Great Depression, the suicide rate increased about 20 percent, from 14 to 17 per 100,000 people. The Asian economic crisis in 1997 led to an estimated 10,400 additional suicides in Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, with suicides spiking more than 40 percent among some demographic groups...So how many suicides are associated with the recession? Nobody knows, not yet. The statistics lag about three years, so the official Center for Disease Control numbers still predate the financial crisis. Right now, therefore, the reports remain anecdotal. But looking at individual counties’ or cities’ data, there are ominous signs of a real spike...
http://washingtonindependent.com/94925/death-and-joblessnessI'm posting this because of the disturbing number of reports, even here at DU, of people who've lost jobs, income support (e.g. medicaid, disability), businesses, homes -- & say they're holding on by their fingertips or have given up.
It's infuriating to see people stressed, hopeless, talking about death when there's enough for everyone in the country & in the world to have a secure productive life. Infuriating to see corps' stock prices & profits climb while people are ground down. Infuriating to see more & more cuts -- of jobs, of wages, of the safety net -- demanded. And infuriating to see some minimize or even mock these human costs, or even applaud them as socially beneficial.
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