The government has produced plans for preventing suicide. Suicides are increasing at the highest rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), so the government is right to want to get involved. You get a sure sense of how serious the problem is if you realize that the country essentially has another Daegu subway disaster each week, that tragedy having taken 192 lives. Recent suicides include former Supreme Court justice Yu Tae Heung, actress Yi Eun Ju, and a female football player. Government policy will be important, but this is something society as a whole needs to do something about.
The basic framework of the Health and Welfare Ministry's plan announced Friday is about providing funding for the treatment of low-income persons suffering from depression. More than half of the citizens of Seoul suspect they suffer from depression and the disease is believed to be the cause of 80 percent of the country's suicides, including the cases of Yu Tae Heung and Yi Eun Ju. When you consider how depression among low-income individuals would have been given lesser priority compared to other diseases, the ministry's plans are aimed in the right direction.
The government's plan is a short-term one and will not do all that is needed. Suicide is the result of internalized, personal decision, but the socio-cultural atmosphere forces that choice in many cases. Unless a mood is created that respects the value of community and the dignity of the lives of each individual it will be hard for the government's prevention measures to be effective. There does need to be government money for treating depression. But fundamentally improving the country's social psychological climate should come first.
One by one we need to eradicate the negative shadows like desperation and gloom in our society. They need to be replaced with the positive seeds of hope and optimism. It would be worth considering including programs for experiencing the joy of community through things like sharing and helping campaigns in the school system. There also needs to be substantial environmental and ecological education that wakes students up to the wonder and dignity of the whole ecosystem, including human beings.
The Hankyoreh, 5 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Social Mood More Important in Preventing Suicide |
