Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

Recently, in March 2013, a successful congress organized jointly by the World Federation for Mental Health and the Hellenic Psychiatric Association was held in Athens. The main theme of the congress was the Psychosocial Impact of Crises and Disasters. Within this context the impact of the current economic crisis was extensively discussed. It is certainly not the first time that humanity is confronted with a serious financial crisis. We have all heard of the terrible "crush" that hit the American economy in 1929, the financial disaster that destroyed the soviet economy at the beginning of the 1990s and the serious economic crisis in Asia at the end of the 1990s. The effects of financial crises on the mental health of the citizens share many similarities between countries but they also have many differences. It would be a mistake to disregard the similarities and not take advantage of the acquired experience but it would also be a mistake not to take into account the differences. For example, the recommendation of the WHO for alcohol price control1 for the purpose of limiting the availability of alcoholic drinks, can be useful for some countries in Northern Europe where many suicides were committed under the influence of alcohol during the period of the financial crisis.