BACKGROUND: The economic crisis of 2009 led to a wave of corporate reorganisations and bankruptcies, with many dismissals of employees. GPs were confronted with subsequent health consequences. AIM: To assess the possible relationship between losing one's job and having suicidal thoughts. DESIGN AND SETTING: A survey of patients aged 18-49 years recruited from GP practices in Belgium in Deurne (Flemish region) and La Louvière (Walloon region) from September to December 2010. Method Anonymous self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Of all eligible patients (n = 1818), 831 were offered the questionnaire and 377 completed it (45.4%). More than one in five had been confronted with employment loss in the past year (the responder or someone close losing their job). Almost one in ten had lost their job themselves in the past year. More than one in four had experienced suicidal thoughts and 11.7% had seriously considered ending their life in the past year. In the logistic regression analysis, the following characteristics showed a statistically significant relationship with having suicidal thoughts: being single (odds ratio [OR] = 4.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7 to 13.8), not having satisfying social contacts (OR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.6 to 16.2), having depressive complaints (OR = 18.4, 95% CI = 5.8 to 58.4), and having lost one's employment in the past year (OR = 8.8, 95% CI = 2.0 to 39.3). CONCLUSION: This study points to a statistically significant relationship between losing one's employment in the past year and having suicidal thoughts. It emphasises the important role of the GP in the continuous and reinforced assessment of suicidal risk in times of recession.
BACKGROUND: The economic crisis of 2009 led to a wave of corporate reorganisations and bankruptcies, with many dismissals of employees. GPs were confronted with subsequent health consequences. AIM: To assess the possible relationship between losing one's job and having suicidal thoughts. DESIGN AND SETTING: A survey of patients aged 18-49 years recruited from GP practices in Belgium in Deurne (Flemish region) and La Louvière (Walloon region) from September to December 2010. Method Anonymous self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Of all eligible patients (n = 1818), 831 were offered the questionnaire and 377 completed it (45.4%). More than one in five had been confronted with employment loss in the past year (the responder or someone close losing their job). Almost one in ten had lost their job themselves in the past year. More than one in four had experienced suicidal thoughts and 11.7% had seriously considered ending their life in the past year. In the logistic regression analysis, the following characteristics showed a statistically significant relationship with having suicidal thoughts: being single (odds ratio [OR] = 4.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7 to 13.8), not having satisfying social contacts (OR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.6 to 16.2), having depressive complaints (OR = 18.4, 95% CI = 5.8 to 58.4), and having lost one's employment in the past year (OR = 8.8, 95% CI = 2.0 to 39.3). CONCLUSION: This study points to a statistically significant relationship between losing one's employment in the past year and having suicidal thoughts. It emphasises the important role of the GP in the continuous and reinforced assessment of suicidal risk in times of recession.
Authors: M M Weissman; R C Bland; G J Canino; S Greenwald; H G Hwu; P R Joyce; E G Karam; C K Lee; J Lellouch; J P Lepine; S C Newman; M Rubio-Stipec; J E Wells; P J Wickramaratne; H U Wittchen; E K Yeh Journal: Psychol Med Date: 1999-01 Impact factor: 7.723
Authors: Matthew K Nock; Guilherme Borges; Evelyn J Bromet; Jordi Alonso; Matthias Angermeyer; Annette Beautrais; Ronny Bruffaerts; Wai Tat Chiu; Giovanni de Girolamo; Semyon Gluzman; Ron de Graaf; Oye Gureje; Josep Maria Haro; Yueqin Huang; Elie Karam; Ronald C Kessler; Jean Pierre Lepine; Daphna Levinson; Maria Elena Medina-Mora; Yutaka Ono; José Posada-Villa; David Williams Journal: Br J Psychiatry Date: 2008-02 Impact factor: 9.319
Authors: Juan Antonio Córdoba-Doña; Miguel San Sebastián; Antonio Escolar-Pujolar; Jesús Enrique Martínez-Faure; Per E Gustafsson Journal: Int J Equity Health Date: 2014-07-25