"We all seek understandable reasons for that kind of behavior," Conwell said, but he added that he believes trying to find a cause can lead to a misunderstanding about suicide. "To say that somebody kills themselves because of their financial stress is going to be a gross oversimplification"
According to Conwell, many people who commit suicide come to their decision based on a variety of factors that coalesce -- psychiatric illness, substance abuse, medical illness or an inability to deal with stress.
"People don't kill themselves for one reason," Conwell said.
Yet stories of suicides during recessions abound. One woman's attempted suicide was so clearly tied to the mortgage crisis that her mortgage finance company decided to let her keep her home.
Addie Polk, of Akron, Ohio, shot herself through the chest in her upstairs bedroom as sheriffs came to evict her Oct. 1. The 90-year-old woman survived the wound and was later mentioned by Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, before Congress voted on the first version of the $700 billion financial rescue package.
Upon hearing about the case in the news, Fannie Mae representatives told The Associated Press that they would dismiss the foreclosure action and forgive her mortgage.
But many thousands of American households will face the same stress as Polk.
Suicide experts say that financial stress is a well-known risk factor for suicide, but measuring exactly how much impact a widespread crisis has on the suicide rate is difficult.
"Joblessness is a risk factor for suicide," said Nadine Kaslow, professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta. "The stress is just overwhelming. ... People are freaked out."
As for hard numbers, Kaslow said the best estimates she has found report that suicide rates went up during the Great Depression from 14 suicides a year per 100,000 people in the general population to 17 suicides per 100,000 people.
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