Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry reported that in the years following the 2008 Great Recession by the end of 2013 there had been more than 10,000 extra suicides across Europe and North America.
Moreover, in the UK there was a significantly higher incidence in those regions, such as the North East, with the highest unemployment.
The increase was predominantly among men, mainly middle-aged men, according to figures from the Office for National statistics (ONS).
The Samaritans’ executive director of policy, Joe Ferns, put this in context, saying that the increase was “sadly not surprising to us given the context of a challenging economic environment and the social impact that brings”.
Add to this the widely-held view that men are generally reluctant to talk about their feelings when experiencing problems, borne out by some research carried out by YouGov and the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) which found that 41% of respondents said they never spoke to anyone about their feelings.
A problem ignored is likely to escalate both in reality and in the mind
Given that business and economic life continues to be stressful in 2016 this underlines the risks of bottling up worries and the importance of not ignoring business and financial problems.
All too often, however, business turnaround advisors report that business owners and directors leave it until the last minute, before calling on them for help, often at the point when they run out of cash or when pressure from creditors overwhelms them.
Since the majority of those in senior management and business tend to be men it perhaps should be no surprise that such behaviour is common.
Yet there is plenty of evidence that an insolvent business can be saved with the help of a turnaround advisor.
Macho behaviour, whether putting up a front and toughing it out, or not showing what is perceived to be weakness by asking for help will not save the business or indeed those jobs that depend on it.
There is plenty of expert and non judgemental support available and willing to help turn a situation around.