Suicides rise as Italy's economy slumps
Suicides rise as Italy's economy slumps
A recent report found that financially related suicides increased by 40 percent this year.
Rome, Italy - Giuseppe Sopranzi threw himself into the sea off the coast of central Italy in April, after the 73-year-old discovered his sister and brother-in-law had hanged themselves in their home that morning.
The couple, Annamaria Sopranzi, 68, and Romeo Dionisi, 62, had long been struggling to survive on a pension of a few hundred euros a month. The triple suicide in Civitanova Marche in eastern Italy was widely attributed to the family's insurmountable financial burden.
Italians were shocked. In response, the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, visited the town. Although the triple suicide was deemed a unique tragedy, growing economic difficulties in Italy are making suicide a growing phenomenon.
The recent Report on Global Rights 2013 found that financially related suicides increased by 40 percent in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period in 2012. Half of those deaths were attributed to the "precarious" economic situation in the country, and 28 percent because of loss of employment.
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