Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

The character Gordon Gecko in the film ‘Wall Street’ lived by the mantra ‘Greed is Good’. The events that unfolded towards the end of 2008 exposed in dramatic fashion the downside to greed and led to the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Economic contagion in the US spread rapidly as many countries experienced failures in key businesses, declines in consumer wealth and increased financial debts. While the economic and political implications have been studied in detail, the impact on health – especially that of mental health – has received much less attention. This essay aims to achieve a critical analysis of causality (or lack thereof) between an economic crisis and mental health, using a combination of statistical review, psychological theories and common logic. This will hopefully impact on our understanding of the causes of mental health problems in times of economic insecurity and assist in developing strategies to ameliorate them.