Tragically, we appear to have had the first high-profile financial markets suicide of the current turmoil. The Mail-on-Sunday has reported that 47-year-old Kirk Stephenson, chief operating officer with activist investor Olivant Advisers, is believed to have taken his own life Thursday, by throwing himself in front of a 100mph express train at a railroad station in Berkshire. He is said to have finally succumbed 'to mounting personal pressures as the world's financial markets went into meltdown'.

As we are well into the second year of the financial crisis, many financial markets professionals are now suffering from stress, angst and depression. Fears of small bonus payouts, job loss and career shutdown are resulting in many bankers seeking medical help to assist them through these difficult times. And worse, some bankers could be prone to take their own lives, as their self-worth is so inextricably linked with the success and the financial rewards their profession so often brings. Medical health professionals around the world have confirmed that referrals are up, and many are concerned that the worst is yet to come.

But although many bankers are thought likely to suffer serious breakdowns before this crisis is out, thankfully suicide is probably something we won't often see. We have all heard the stories of countless bankers jumping to their deaths from their office windows, after sustaining huge losses in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In truth, however, there were far fewer suicides at work than you would think. Although the Wall Street Crash was responsible for putting 12 million people out of work in the US (12,000 people were being laid off every day), as 1,616 banks failed and over 20,000 companies went bankrupt, the number of banker suicides was relatively small. True, 23,000 Americans committed suicide in the year following the Crash, the highest number in a 12 month period on record, but the vast majority of those who took their own lives were ordinary people who suffered indirectly from the financial fallout and lost access to credit - farmers who lost their farms, individuals who lost their jobs or savings, and entrepreneurs who lost their businesses. Less than 20 Wall Street bankers or speculators are thought to have actually committed suicide at work immediately following the Crash. In total, around 100 financial markets professionals are thought to have died by their own hand.

This time around (so far), the problems we have seen in the financial markets have been, by and large, restricted to a few players - in the US 'just' 14 banks have gone belly-up, whereas in Europe only 6 major firms have had to be rescued (nationalized, bailed out or forced to merge). And in terms of wholesale banking, the major problems have been localised (Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and, to a lesser extent, Merrill Lynch). Another reason for more optimism about the state of the markets (and the implications for individuals affected by the same) is that American had to wait until 3 years after The Wall Street Crash (until 1932), before Roosevelt's New Deal enabled the required rebuilding / restructuring to commence in earnest. This time around, US lawmakers have moved much more quickly to agree the injection of public funds into the system - with benefits to all globally .

So, if history is anything to go by, although mental suffering will sometimes follow financial and career hardship, most bankers will fortunately not take drastic measures to 'solve' their problems. We must, however, be on the look-out for the warning signs (low self esteem, change in behaviour / personality, constant talking about death, etc). If you think one of your work colleagues is operating under stress, or worse, please do tell someone in authority. Or if you are under pressure, please seek medical help.

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Suicide Ain't Painless

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