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Financial crisis and mental health in Greece

O. Giotakos, D. Karabelas, A. Kafkas
Psychiatric Department, 414 Military Hospital, Athens, Greece

Psychiatriki 2011, 22:109119

Several studies indicate an association between economic crises and psychological burden.
To investigate the possible impact of the current economic crisis on mental health in Greece,
the association between two economic indicators (unemployment and average income) and
mental health variables (psychiatric clinic admittance, visits to outpatients departments and
emergency units, suicides, homicides, mortality rates and divorces) was studied. The data were
gathered by the Greek Statistical Service and some others were provided by the following
hospitals: Eginition Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, Athens General Hospital and
Evaggelismos Hospital. Simple and multiple regression analyses were performed on the data.
There was no significant correlation between the level of unemployment, as well as the average
income, and admittance to the psychiatric clinics. A significant correlation was isolated between
unemployment and visits to outpatients department (R 2=0.40, p=0.001) and emergency unit
(R 2=0.49, p=0.0002) of Eginition Hospital. The unemployment rate during the period 19812008
was positively associated with the number of homicides (R 2=0.16, =0.000049, p=0.03), as well
as the number of divorces (R 2=0.20, =0.005, p=0.02) during the same period. The average
income showed positive association with the visits to both outpatients department (R 2=0.55,
p<0.001) and emergency unit (R 2=0,37, p=0.004) of Eginition Hospital. However, the data from
the 4 hospitals of the study revealed a negative correlation between average income and
visits to outpatients departments (R 2=0.70, p=0.02) and emergency units (R 2=0.90, p<0.001).

PSYCHIATRIKI 22 (2), 2011

119

Furthermore, a significant negative correlation between the average income and suicide rates
(R 2=0.37, p=0.007), as well as a positive correlation between the average income and divorce
rates (R 2=0.73, p<0.001) were found. The findings show several similarities with previous surveys
in countries with analogous economic crises, such as the Former Eastern Bloc countries, Asian
countries and the USA. Future studies, at a more late stage of the economic crisis, are expected
to reveal more reliable associations with mental health. Finally, these findings are expected
to inform intervention programmes dealing with prevention or mitigation of the impact of
economic crisis on citizens mental health.
Key words: Economic crisis, mental health, suicidality, intervention programmes

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