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Suicide rates for adults between the ages of 40 and 64 has risen sharply in recent years—and astronomically since 2007—leading researchers to believe that the U.S. economic downturn has played a significant role in the increase, a study released on Friday says. The study found that 37.5 percent of suicides in this age bracket were attributed to financial and economic problems in 2010, up from 33 percent in 2005, before the recession began.

Researchers note that the increase is similar to that of the worst years of the Great Recession.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was conducted to map possible patterns and to determine whether the economy may have been a contributing factor in the surge in suicides since the beginning of the crisis.

Past studies have also traced the connections between economic distress and suicide; one such study demonstrated that the overall suicide rate falls during periods when economic numbers are favorable, and it rises when there is a recession–and the rates are […]