Suicide rates in Crete, Greece during the economic crisis: The effect of age, gender, unemployment and mental health provision.

ackground: Recently, suicides in Greece have drawn national and international interest due to the current
economic crisis. According to published reports, suicides in Greece have increased up to 40% and Crete has
been highlighted as an area with the sharpest increase.
Aim: To investigate the suicide mortality rates in Crete between 1999 and 2013 and their association with the
economic crisis.
Methods: Data on suicides were selected from the Department of Forensic Medicine files of the University of Crete.
Results: Our analysis showed that (1) Crete, has the highest suicide mortality rate in Greece, however no significant
increase was observed between 1999 and 2013, (2) there were opposing trends between men and women, with
women showing a decrease whereas men showed an increase in that period, (3) there was a significant increase
of suicides in middle-aged men (40–64 yrs) and elderly, although the highest unemployment rates were observed
in young men and women, and (4) finally, there was a regional shift of suicides with a significant decrease in
Western Crete and a significant increase in Eastern Crete.
Conclusions: Although, Crete has the highest suicide mortality rates in Greece, we did not observe an overall
increase during the last 15 years, including the period of economic crisis. Furthermore, there was an increase in
middle-aged and elderly men, whereas young men and women showed oppositional trends during the years of
austerity. This may be related to the culturally different expectations for the two genders, as well as that younger
individuals may find refuge to either strong family ties or by immigrating abroad. Finally, the relative increase of
suicides in Eastern Crete may be explained by factors, such as the lack of community mental health services in
that area.