• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, October 24, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Negative economic messaging impacting on suicide rates, says new research

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 8, 2019
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Relentless negative reporting on economic downturns is impacting on people’s emotions and contributing to the suicide rate, according to new research.

Carried out by Dr Adam Cox from the University of Portsmouth and Professor Alan Collins from Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University, the project built on existing work which shows that suicide rates increase in times of economic strife and uncertainty.

The study used data from the USA and took into account the 2007 financial crash and global financial crisis to explore ‘consumer sentiment’ – the emotional reaction and way in which people perceive their economic situation to unfold, such as expecting to lose their employment.

The findings revealed that the average suicide rate increased significantly in the aftermath of the financial crisis for all sex and age groups, wherein the effect was stronger for females than for males.

There was also a correlation between the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) – a measure of consumer’s perceptions of their financial situation and of the economy in general – and the average suicide rate. Results showed that a more positive consumer outlook on personal finance and the economy in general, as measured by the CSI, lowers the rate.

Alan Collins, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Nottingham Business School, said: “Our results showed that consumer sentiment plays a significantly greater role in explaining variations of the suicide rate compared to traditional economic indicators such as income and unemployment figures.

“People have a ‘gut feeling’ of how their situation may progress and constant negative announcements, reporting and media communication have an impact on this. Beliefs about future unemployment can also be exacerbated by social media. These relentless messages depress consumer sentiment and raise suicidality, whereas an increase in consumer sentiment makes people more optimistic, which dissuades them from engaging in suicidal behaviour.”

Dr Adam Cox, principal lecturer in Economics and Finance at the University of Portsmouth, added: “We also tested the impact of state public and health expenditures and found no evidence to suggest that increased spending lowers suicide. Taken together, these results pose some awkward questions for policymakers, especially in the context of justifying mental health expenditure budgets and communicating economic policy that affects consumers.

“Broader consumer sentiment should be recognised as a source of potential mental health issues and communications should reflect this. The qualification rarely made in such communications is that all economic downturns are followed by upswings and that downswings can actually be a good time to contemplate training and education opportunities in preparation for upswings.”

###

The full paper ‘Suicide, Sentiment and Crisis’ has been published online by The Social Science Journal.

Media Contact
Glenn Harris
[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2019.04.001

Tags: BehaviorDeath/DyingMental HealthSocial/Behavioral ScienceSocioeconomics
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Insilico Leadership to Discuss AI-Driven Future Growth at FII 2025

October 24, 2025

Insilico Medicine CEO Alex Zhavoronkov to Discuss Longevity and AI in Healthcare at Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh

October 24, 2025

Comparing Yueju Pill and Escitalopram in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

October 24, 2025

Gingivalis Promotes Cervical Cancer Metastasis via FimA

October 24, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1279 shares
    Share 511 Tweet 319
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    309 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 77
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    187 shares
    Share 75 Tweet 47
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    133 shares
    Share 53 Tweet 33

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Insilico Leadership to Discuss AI-Driven Future Growth at FII 2025

Exploring the Future: A Deep Dive into Satellite-Terrestrial Integrated Networks and Their Technological Advancements

Bone Metastases Impact Prognosis in Advanced MTC

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 66 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.