Greece 2012: Social Work in Austerity

The following documentary film describes, by the social workers’ point of view, the situation in Greece.

Three social workers from different agencies -NGO, Semi-Public Agency and State Sector- describe the reality of the users and the one of the social services in the era of crisis, austerity and poverty that domain in Greece the last two years after the entrance of IMF….

It’s an attempt for spreading the “voice” of the “front-line” social workers from Greece but it is also an attempt of revealing the reality of the Greek people as well as the attempts and initiatives for resistance and solidarity.

  

Mental health workers continue the occupation of the Ministry of Health

                                                                                                                                        

WE CONTINUE THE OCCUPATION AT THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

WE NEED EVERYONE’S SUPPORT

The workers and those sacked from Mental Health and Special Support participated in the 48-hour General Strike and decided to continue the occupation of the Ministry of Health until Sunday 12/2 at noon, which is when we will hold another assembly to decide on the continuation of our mobilisations.

We demand:

-Immediate funding of the structures for the coverage of current needs (wages, insurance funds, running costs etc).

- The cancelling out of the decision to reduce the budget by 55% (40 instead of 85 million) for 2012, which practically means the collapse of the services and the Psychiatric Restructuring.

- Obstacle-free, regular funding of Psychiatric Health and Special Support from the state budget.

- No to lay-offs, mergers, the flexibilisation/ intensification of labour and the reduction in wages which by default lead to a shrinking of the services and the devaluation of their quality.

- Holistic design for a Mental Health that will be public and free, to cover the ever-increasing needs of the society for support and help. Only with the participation of the workers and the recipients through our won structures shall proposals emerge for a true solving of the pending issues.

- Setting out of a common legal framework for Special Support.

- No to the alteration of pensions and benefits of patients for the coverage of permanent running costs of the structures.

- Re-employment of all who have been sacked, because none of us is consumable.

We call all unions and workers attacked by the memorandum’s politics of impoverishment and trashing of the social net to support practically our occupation and to take similar incentives in their own workplaces.

This is the largest mobilisation ever in our workplace and an unprecedented opportunity to co-ordinate our actions, with this occupation being a starting and reference point!

All together we can make it; the occupation needs everyone’s support!

We will meet on Sunday 12/02 at noon at the Assembly to decide the continuation of our mobilisations, and at 6pm at Syntagma.

Workers at Mental Health and Special Support

www.occupiedlondon.org

         

Greek woes drive up suicide rate to highest in Europe

   

Experts attribute rise to the country's economic crisis following release of statistics that show a 40% jump since last year 

A homeless man begs for money in Athens. 

The suicide rate in Greece has reached a pan-European record high, with experts attributing the rise to the country's economic crisis.

Painful austerity measures and a seemingly endless economic drama is exacting a deadly toll on the nation. Statistics released by the Greek ministry of health show a 40% rise in those taking their own lives between January and May this year compared to the same period in 2010.

Before the financial crisis first began to bite three years ago, Greece had the lowest suicide rate in Europe at 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. It now has almost double that number, the highest on the continent, despite the stigma in a nation where the Orthodox church refuses funeral rights for those who take their lives. Attempted suicides have also increased.

"It's never just one thing, but almost always debts, joblessness, the fear of being fired are cited when people phone in to say they are contemplating ending their lives," said Eleni Beikari, a psychiatrist at the non-governmental organisation, Klimaka, which runs a 24-hour suicide hotline.

Klimaka received around 10 calls a day before the crisis; it now gets more than 100 in any 24-hour period.

"Most come from women aged between 30 and 50 and men between 40 and 45 despairing over economic problems," said Beikari. "In my experience it's the men, suffering from hurt dignity and lost pride, who are most serious."

As poverty has deepened, unemployment has hit an unprecedented 18% (with over 42% affecting the 25 to 40 age group) and crime has skyrocketed in a country heading for a fifth straight year of recession. Greece's social fabric is fraying in ways once unthinkable. With the homeless now exceeding 20,000 in central Athens alone, funding cuts disproportionately affecting welfare services and drug use on the rise, the economic crisis has morphed increasingly into one of mental health with depression, neuroses and cases of self-harm also surging, according to experts. Psychiatrists have reported a 30% increase in demand for their services over the past year with most patients citing anxiety and depression brought on by financial fears for the decision to seek help.

Child helplines have similarly been deluged by calls. "The crisis is clearly aggravating family relations," Katiana Spyrides, another psychotherapist, said. "In particular we've seen increases in the stress levels of children and adolescents who face new problems, such as seeing their parents imprisoned for economic crimes, or who because of the situation have had to compromise their emotional and other needs."

Psychiatrists say the alarming rise signals an urgent need for a national suicide prevention policy in a nation that until now had discounted the need for one.

"Preventative strategies have to be increased," said Beikari. "Teachers, prison guards, priests, police, professionals in a position to spot those who might be suicidal, need to be sensitised. This is an issue that can no longer be ignored."

Most suicides, attempted and real, have occurred in the greater Attica region surrounding Athens and on the island of Crete where a number of businessmen with no prior history of mental illness have taken their own lives over the last 18 months.

The Guardian

  

Social Firms Europe (CEFEC): Declaration of Support and Solidarity

  

   

Evidence on health effects of financial crisis in Greece

      

NEWS RELEASE: Evidence on health effects of financial crisis in Greece

    

  

FEARP: "Apropos of Political Measures in the Greek Economical Crisis"

 

DECLARACIÓN: 

A PROPOSITO DE LAS MEDIDAS POLITICAS ANTE LA CRISIS ECONOMICA EN GRECIA.