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Over 1000 Britons have committed suicide due to the 2008-2010 economic recession in the UK, in which 846 are men and 155 are women, according to a new study. A paper published on bmj.com suggested that suicides began to rise in the UK in 2008 following 20 years of decline, in which suicides rose 8 percent among men and 9 percent among women, compared to 2007. Authors from the University of Liverpool , University of Cambridge and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tested the hypothesis that the UK regions experiencing the greatest rises in unemployment have seen the largest increase in suicides. According to their estimates, 846 more male suicides and 155 more female suicides took place between 2008 to 2010 than would have been expected if previous trends had continued, and between 2000 and 2010 each annual 10 percent increase in the number of unemployed was associated with a 1.4 percent increase in the number of male suicides. The authors have claimed that the study cannot prove that the association between job losses and suicides is causal yet these findings can explain why there was a small reduction in suicides in 2010, following a slight recovery in male employment. The authors claimed that the analysis has several implications for those seeking to protect the most vulnerable in the ongoing economic recession. "Although the initial economic shock of the recession does increase suicide risk, policies that promote re-employment may reverse this trend", they said.

1,000 Britons committed suicides in UK following 2008-10 economic recession: Study