Psihijat.dan./2016 P P /4 6 6 8/2 8 8 / 2 2 155 -160/ Christodoulou N. Austerity, economic crisis, and their persistent effects on mental health in Greece 155 Opšti rad UDK 613.86(495) COBISS.SR-ID 237509644 AUSTERITY, ECONOMIC CRISIS, AND THEIR PERSISTENT EFFECTS ON MENTAL HEALTH IN GREECE Nikos Christodoulou 1 , George Rachiotis 2 , Dimitris Anagnostopoulos 3 1 Department of Psychological Medicine, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK 2 Medical Faculty, University of Thessaly, Greece 3 Department of Child Psychiatry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece Abstract: Since its beginning in 2008, the t on-going global economic crisis has left many countries struggling with a disaster. Greece is probably the worst affected country, having lost close to a third of its economic productivity, and being still under the imposition of harsh austerity measures. Individual mental health has suffered, as suicide, depression and anxiety, among others, substantially rose during the crisis. Despite efforts to protect mental health systems, they were severely and persistently affected, and evidence suggests that eventually they started failing to meet the health needs of the population. In this narrative review we sought to explore the reasons for this persistent detrimental effect. We identified several evidence-based examples of resonating factors that could help explain why the effects of the crisis are so persistent. We suggest that men- tal health systems need additional support and investment to overcome the resonating effects of the crisis and to meet the population’s mental health needs. We also suggest that such resonating ef- fects should be taken into account for contingency planning and the prevention of future crises. Key words: Economic crisis, mental health systems, austerity, Greece, refugees, mental health, inequality, unemployment