One suicide every 3 days

In the last ten days, a businessman, a father of two young children, a priest, a scholar and a pensioner, have all been offered as a sacrifice on the altar of the economic crisis and the memorandum, and in less than a month twelve of our fellow men have killed themselves.

The phenomenon of suicides has become a social scourge, as almost every day people from all over Greece choose to end their lives. People are continuously added to the long list of victims of the economic crisis arriving at this ultimate act, unable to cope with the consequences of the economic crisis.

In the last few days:
 
-  economic difficulties turned into a "noose" for a 40-year-old man in Gyzi and a 60-year-old man in Agrinio, both of whom were found hanging at home

-  the day before yesterday, in the afternoon, a 50-year-old businessman in Pyrgos was found hanging in his shop selling car parts. In Lamia, a farmer let his tractor run over and crush him

-  on the same day in Kimi, a 44-year-old man, the father of two underage children, chose to end his life with a shotgun. The locals told the police that he had never given such an impression, with the people closest to him being shocked because they had not realised that anything had tormented him so much

-  on Wednesday, April 25th, the university community was shocked by the suicide of Nikos Polyvios, the 38-year-old lecturer at the University of Athens. Nikos was elected to the position of the lecturer two years ago but was never appointed because of the freezing of appointments due to the memorandum

- two days earlier, on April 23, a 79-year-old man chose to dive to his death at the port of Preveza. That same day, the news of the suicide of the 35-year-old priest shocked the local community of Voios, in the town of Neapoli. The priest, who was of Albanian descent and had been in Greece for many years, put an end to his life by falling from the 5th floor of the building where he lived

- two days earlier, on April 21st, a 57-year-old family man from Ftelia had hung himself

- the day before that, on April 20, the society in Heraklion, Crete, was shaken by the suicide of the 54-year-old accountant who was found hanging on the staircase of the building where he lived

What experts are saying

"This moment the Greek society is the maturation of conditions that have been created by the memorandum", Clinical Psychologist-Psychiatrist Dimitris Boukouras says, pointing out that scientific studies have documented that a 3% increase in levels of unemployment leads to an increase of 4, 5% of suicides among the unemployed.

He explains that in addition to the economic difficulties that lead to suicide, another factor is the climate. "It has been observed that suicides multiply during spring and autumn. This is because people with psychopathological problems are unable to cope with the 'tests' imposed by the new season. In short, they are unable to adapt so they collapse."

He points out that it is the first time that the Greek State is confronted with this phenomenon.