Dip in suicides this year suggests trend has ‘peaked’

The number of suicides recorded in Greece in the first eight months of this year was marginally down from the same period last year, according to two nongovernmental organizations which provide support to depressed and homeless citizens.

A total of 209 people (173 men and 36 women) committed suicide from January through August, according to data made public by representatives of the Suicide Prevention Network and Klimaka.

This represents a drop of around 10 percent compared to the 229 people (193 men and 36 women) who killed themselves in the same period of 2013.

According to Aris Violatzis, a counselor with Klimaka, the dip suggests that the increase in suicides that has been widely attributed to the country’s economic crisis has started to reverse. “The phenomenon has peaked and is probably dropping,” he said.