Upticks in Suicides in Greece

If this report is true, upheaval is closer in Greece than imaginable. The Greek suicide rate was among the lowest in Europe in 2009 (3.1/100,000). Even assuming that the number of suicide attempts to suicides will remain imbalanced (per the article, 350 attempts to 50 suicides) this indicates the suicide rate has already virtually doubled.

From Der Speigel:

The lines that Dimitris Christoulas wrote in a suicide note are engraved into a marble plaque.

The government has annihilated all traces for my survival, which was based on a very dignified pension that I alone paid into for 35 years with no help from the state. I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life so that I don’t find myself fishing through garbage cans for my sustenance.

The words “Dimitris’ gesture cannot be repeated” are written on a piece of paper above the plaque. But his gesture is repeating itself on an almost daily basis. The newspaper Ta Nea describes the mood among Greeks as a “society on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” The uncertainty over what the next day will bring is growing by the day.

Christoulas ended his farewell letter with the words: “I believe that young people with no future will one day take up arms and hang the traitors of this country on Syntagma Square.”