LONDON — The recession that began in 2008 may have contributed to an increase in suicides in Britain, according to a study that echoes findings from research in the United States and Australia.
Suicides in England had declined for 20 years to about 4,000 in 2007 before rising in 2008.
About 1,000 more people killed themselves between 2008 and 2010 than would have been expected if previous trends had continued, said researchers at the University of Liverpool, the University of Cambridge, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The British Medical Journal published the study Wednesday.
The findings provide more evidence of an association between job losses and suicides, and suggest that a drop in suicides in 2010 was the result of lower unemployment. Suicide rates in the United States tend to rise during recessions and fall amid economic booms, said a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
''Unemployment and the unequal economic recovery in England are pressing public health issues,'' the study's authors said.