Suicides are not linked to unemployment

A medical doctor and psychiatrist, Ricardo Gusmão, has rejected the theory that the increasing number of suicides in Portugal is linked to depressed jobless people. The problem, he claims, existed long before the economic crisis and currently there are on average four suicides daily. He believes experts have tried, without much success, to diminish the numbers by strengthening social services and educating people against excessive use of alcohol to alleviate their depression.