&gt;I think it&#x27;s very simplistic to say income is the driving force in these numbers.<p>For some groups of people (farmers, vets, construction workers) the correlations between the economy and suicide is very clear.  There&#x27;s pretty good correlation between economic downturn and increased rate of death by suicide.<p>It is simplistic to just say &quot;it&#x27;s the economy&quot;, but the economy is pretty clearly one important factor.