A comparative analysis of suicides in Greece's main port city area of
Piraeus before (2006-2010) and during (2011-2015) the country's severe
economic crisis
We investigated all cases of completed suicide in the city area of
Piraeus -the largest port in Greece-for the years 2006 up to 2015. We
searched, among others, parameters regarding the victims’ psychiatric
medication intake and drug and alcohol use that -to the best of our
knowledge-had never been investigated before by a study on suicides in
Greece within the crisis’ years. We documented variations before
(2006-2010) and during (20112015) crisis. Information was provided by
the victims’ forensic records at the Piraeus Department of Forensic
Medicine. During the period of the study 435 individuals died by
suicide. “Before” crisis: 227 cases, 77,1% males, mean age 48.6
years (SD: 19.8), 85% Greek. “During”: 208 cases, 79,8% males,
mean age 51.4 years (SD: 17.7), 83.2% Greek. Psychiatric medication
intake: “Before”-”During”: 16.3%-29.8% (p = 0.003), males:
16.1%-31.7%, females: 19.6%-27.5% (p = 0.003). Drug use: opioids
2.7%(5.5%), cannabis 1.4%(5.5%), cocaine 0(1.5%), alcohol
14.5%(13.4%). Significant seasonality was observed only for suicides
by jumping with a peak late in the month of July in the “Before”
group. There were no significant differences regarding suicide method,
place of suicide or place of death. The slight decrease in suicides
within the crisis’ years, together with the higher medication intake
observed within the same period, could imply that more individuals were
willing to accept their psychological difficulties and/or to commence
treatment. Probably the stigma of psychiatric illness is somewhat lower
after the beginning of the crisis and/or non-psychiatrists became more
aware of the psychological origins of some of their patients’ problems.
Our findings tentatively suggest that, as the crisis persists, adaptive
mechanisms have been set in motion