Global slowdown to take heavy toll on mental health

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

HONG KONG, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Chiu Hei-chun spent 50 years washing dishes at a roadside stall in Hong Kong only to lose his life savings when Lehman Brothers went belly up.

"I saved it (HK$520,000) bit by bit. It was meant for my wife and I, for our medical bills and our coffins after we die so we won't have to bother our children," the 72-year-old said.

"HK$20,000 of that belongs to my wife and she hasn't been talking to me. I used to get 4 hours' sleep a night, but I haven't even been getting an hour a night after this happened."

The global financial meltdown has hit not only pockets. Psychiatrists and other health experts are seeing greater numbers of people suffering from insomnia, anxiety and depression and they warn that suicide rates may even creep up.

<snip>

Chiu had always kept his money in fixed deposits but he bought Lehman products three years ago after a bank staff member assured him it was safe. "I told the staff I knew nothing and that I was putting full trust in her," the old man said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUST20603220081015?sp=true

[Demeter]

1. Repeat Infinitely

It's so sad, and so unnecessary, that the fraud was perpetrated and aided and abetted by the US power structure. My greatest hope these days is that the deep pockets were emptied....but probably not enough of them were.

[Adsos Letter]

2. You said it well...

Here is a guy and his wife who work diligently for half-a-century to make something in life...there just aren't going to be enough words to describe the utter destruction that is settling down on many ordinary people's lives.

[Hannah Bell]

3. And those sick sob's got bonuses. The guy from HK says "I don't know anything about finance, I put

my trust in you."

I can imagine the lehman salesman saw a nice mark.