Stressful events the year prior to the suicide could play an important role in a person's decision to end his/her life.

To present the most common stressful life events in a sample of suicide victims from Greece. We studied a 2-year (November 2007-October 2009) sample (n=335) in the area of coverage of the Athens Department of Forensic Medicine, the largest in our country. Data were provided from the completion of a psychological autopsy questionnaire following interview with a relative of the deceased. Relatives were asked to mention a single event that, according to them, provoked considerable stress to the victim the year before suicide.

Data were available in 119 cases; most commonly referred events were: Economic difficulties (37 cases: 31.1%), health problems of the victim (32 cases: 27.0%), separation or divorce (16 cases: 13.4%), health problems of victims’ relatives (13 cases: 11.0%), grief (12 cases: 10.1), legal matters to settle (3 cases: 2.5%), work promotion (2 cases: 1.7%), retirement (2 cases: 1.7%), issue of honor (1 case: 0.8%), and imminent expulsion (a case of an immigrant: 0.8%). Stressful life events could increase the risk of suicide mainly by causing or deteriorating psychiatric disorders; in some cases though, the risk is unrelated to mental disorders.

There is a remarkable correlation between economic difficulties and suicide: Given the fact that when our research took place the economic crisis in Greece had not yet started, its influence on the phenomenon of suicide is expected to be significant.