Recession Quadrupled Suicide Rate

The suicide rate rose four times more quickly between 2008 and 2010 than it did in the preceding eight years, a study finds, a jump of an extra 1,500 deaths per year. Between 1999 and 2007, the rate annually climbed by about 0.12 deaths per 100,000 people; that jumped to 0.51 deaths per 100,000 starting in 2008. And for every 1% increase in unemployment, suicide rates also climbed about 1%, notes the New York Times. Because "the magnitude of these effects is slightly larger than for those previously estimated in the United States," the study says, it's possible the recession also exacted a greater mental toll than earlier downturns. (More unemployment stories.)