The credit crisis and suicide: on January 6, 2009 it was announced that 74-year-old German billionaire Adolf Merkcle had taken his own life after seeing almost his entire business empire collapse. The man jumped in front of the train after his companies found themselves in a desperate situation due to the crisis. Why do people commit suicide during the credit crisis? And is the credit crisis always the only reason for that suicide?
Uncertainty and powerlessness due to the credit crisis
The uncertainty and his inability to do anything about the situation broke the enthusiastic entrepreneur whose fortune was once estimated at 6.7 billion. The man suffered hundreds of millions of euros in losses last year due to failed speculation with Volkswagen shares.
Suicide during foot and mouth crisis
His suicide during crises is not isolated. During the Foot and Mouth Disease crisis, at least ten farmers whose livestock had been culled took their own lives. The South Korean farmer leader Lee Kyun Hae also committed suicide in front of the world, because he felt that he had largely failed after free trade was introduced. The leader left a statement saying, among other things, that free trade would destroy his country’s farming communities. He believed that farmers would see their incomes disappear, go bankrupt and that farmers would either move to the city or commit suicide.
Suicides in India’s agricultural crisis
In India, the number of suicides during the agricultural crisis in 2007 was even around 16,632. Due to disappointing cotton harvests, 4,238 farmers committed suicide in the state of Maharashtra alone, a quarter of the number of suicides in the country. The total number of farmer suicides in that country since 1997 is 182,936. According to the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, the main reason for the suicides is the large debt that farmers have. Many farmers have taken out loans from private lenders who charge up to 120 percent interest and at a certain point they no longer see a way out.
Although it may seem that money or the lack thereof is an important reason for committing suicide, it is not that simple. Self-image, loneliness, mental illness and the lack of a social network seem to play a major role in situations that seem hopeless. Moreover, there are also many people in the same situation who deal with the problem very differently and do not take their own lives.
Why this road?
Bram Bakker and Bram Hulzebos state in their book ,Loden Last. The Taboo around suicide shows that the question of why someone actually commits suicide cannot actually be answered. Possible psychiatric illnesses play an important role, but there are also people who commit suicide without a psychiatric illness. This happens because, for example, they have been abandoned by their partner, are bankrupt or have an argument with the children. According to the authors and psychiatrists, this probably creates a feeling of loneliness. According to them, it is difficult to indicate what loneliness exactly means, because feeling lonely and being lonely are not the same. Feeling lonely is a common but often ignored phenomenon in psychiatric illnesses, although it is not considered one of the hallmarks of depression.
Heredity and neurobiological vulnerability in suicide
Moreover, it is difficult to estimate the extent to which heredity and neurobiological vulnerability play a role in suicide attempts. According to Bakker and Hulzebos, it appears that there is an innate vulnerability in certain families to commit suicide. Little biological research has actually been done into this, but it is happening more and more. For example, it has been established that cholesterol levels are below average in people who have committed suicide. However, it is not known what this means.
Cognitive ability and suicide
Cognitive ability, or the ideas a person has about themselves, are also often crucial. This is because they represent what a person really thinks about themselves. A person who feels that he has failed due to the credit crisis or other circumstances may have such a negative feeling about himself that suicide seems to be the only way out. Someone with depression (which can be caused by a traumatic experience such as the loss of money or other security) often has an exaggerated negative image of themselves that is not consistent with reality. He feels worthless, gloomy and incapable of doing anything.
Posttraumatic stress disorder and suicide
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to Bakker in the book ,Too crazy to run wild,, can only arise from the combination of a traumatic experience with a certain predisposition. The chance that something like a specific trauma sensitivity gene will ever be found is small, but the statement that a certain genetic constitution plays an important role is supported by most experts. Moreover, the predisposition to develop PTSD after a traumatic experience is probably not very specific. For example, it is assumed that becoming depressed after a breakup, for example, also has to do with predisposition. The genetic predisposition would even be a risk for developing all possible depressive and anxiety disorders. The insight that a traumatic experience in someone without any hereditary predisposition will usually not result in PTSD does not provide a clear picture of when and in whom psychological complaints can arise as a result of a trauma.
Social circumstances in suicide
A person’s circumstances also play an important role. For example, a partner, family or close friends can have a great influence on the victim’s ability to process the trauma in a ,healthy way., This applies in both a positive and negative sense. An understanding and supportive attitude from loved ones often has a very beneficial effect, while a lack of it can actually lead to someone feeling even lonelier than is often the case after experiencing a traumatic event.
More people in the world die every year from suicide than from all wars and murders combined, according to UN figures. According to experts, 20 million people attempt suicide every year, of which 1 million ‘succeed’. One third of all suicides occur with pesticides or other chemical pesticides, especially in Asian countries. It is striking that the professions in which suicides occur most often are almost all in the medical sector. The highest ranking are the anesthetists, followed by veterinarians, dentists, nurses and psychiatrists. Then according to other professional groups such as farmers or notaries. In the Netherlands, the number of suicide cases has been around 1,500 per year in the last ten years.