"A radio station reported five deaths in just one day this week after a caller rang in to tell of yet another. Greeks are beginning to talk about suicide figures the way financiers study bond rates, as a kind of pulse check of national wellbeing.

Dr Katsadoros says before the crisis, three-quarters of all calls to the helpline were related to emotional problems.

Now the helpline has four times the number of calls, running at more than 3000 a year.

Three-quarters of them begin with people talking not about their personal lives but about their anxiety over money, which has in turn led to them becoming depressed."

Sydney Morning Herald article