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Greece

Greece: Depression And Suicide Rate Rising In Face Of Economic Crisis, National Shame

Unemployment, economic hardship, and the shame of being considered Europe’s black sheep – the Greek have never been so dispirited. And the number of cases of clinical depression and suicides is soaring.

Protesters don't have a cure for country's black mood. (George Laoutaris)
Protesters don't have a cure for country's black mood. (George Laoutaris)

While the rest of Europe may be tormented by the thought of having to cough up ever more money to bail out Athens, the once carefree Greeks are getting more depressed by the day. Psychiatrists say that the economic crisis has triggered a 25 to 30% increase in the number of patients seeking their help.

"There is an increase in the number of patients suffering from minor psychiatric conditions: anxiety, panic attacks and depression," says Dimitris Ploumidis, head of a mental health center in eastern Athens. "In September 2010, people had to wait two weeks for a consultation, now it's more like two-and-a-half months."

Before the crisis started, Greece was proud to be at the bottom of the list in Europe for the number of suicides, with a rate of 2,8 for 100,000 inhabitants. But that might be changing. Experts believe that in 2009 their number suffered a 18% increase compared with 2007, with numbers expected to have climbed ever higher in 2010.

Most people who commit suicide come from Athens or the island of Crete, where several business people killed themselves in the midst of grave financial problems. "The desire to commit suicide always has more than one cause, but a lot of those who come to us for help are people who used to make a good living, and who are now having financial difficulties," says Aris Violatzis, a psychiatrist from the Klimaka NGO, in charge of the SOS Suicide hotline.

If experts believe that this national blues stems mainly from economic troubles, they also suspect that worries about the future of Greece might be at work too. "The Greek identity has suffered a tremendous blow," says Aris Violatzis. "They are ashamed. The entire world today thinks that the Greek are cheaters, and the black sheep of Europe. This is very hard to accept."

Read the full article in French by Alain Salles

Photo - George Laoutaris

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Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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