By Cho Jae-hyon
City Editor
A day rarely passes by without reports of suicide these days. Last week alone, many people ― from an asset manager to a middle school student ― took their own lives.
``Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,'' wrote Leo Tolstoy in the opener of Anna Karenina. With apologies to the great novelist, all happy people are happy in the same way, while every unhappy individual is unhappy in his or her own way. In this modern world, individuals are fragmented, inharmonious and alienated.
People are getting depressed. Mom-and-pop shop owners are suffering slumping sales. Salaried workers are anxious about being laid off, while bonuses shrink and wages freeze.
Nowadays, students are under greater pressure. Forced to become study machines, they are no more than pendulums wound up to swing back and forth between schools and hagwon. Many of them end their lives for such foolish reasons as failed exams.
More than 12,000 Koreans took their own lives last year, according to the nation's statistical agency. It means on average as many as 33 people took their own lives every day. Suicide is the fourth biggest cause of death here, following cancer, liver-related disease and heart disease. Korea has beaten other well-to-do OECD members in terms of suicide ratio by a large margin.
Why are so many Koreans taking their own lives? In this society, which still upholds Confucian values, hurting oneself is taught to be one of the gravest sins since it is disrespectful to one's parents. There seems to be no particular cultural or historical element that could fully explain the relatively high suicide rate.
Our society's stress levels are going through the roof. Many are frayed and worn out by various kinds of stress. When they are pushed to the edge, many people give in, as they find no way out.
The preventive job of keeping them from being pushed to the edge and catching those who are falling off the cliff falls primarily on the government. However, it has been doing little to curb the increase in the number of suicides.
Taking steps to prevent suicides could be tricky, as every depressed individual is unhappy for different reasons. Even so, the government should seriously look at the issue of suicide and assume a more active role.
People try to solve depression or mental illness on their own and in most cases their conditions take a turn for the worse before getting better. The stigma of mental illness should be brought out from the shadows. Everybody gets depressed sometimes. They should not be left alone during the ordeal. The government needs to stay vigilant in the fight against the stigma of suicide.
What is most urgent is to provide more mental health services for the depressed. Even when severely depressed to the point where suicide comes to mind, most Koreans would not consult a mental health professional. If consultation with psychiatrists or counselors becomes easier and more affordable, the suicide rate will decrease. A higher budget should be allocated to place specialized counselors or teachers in schools.
Sadly, another boy took his own life yesterday. The 15-year-old middle school student jumped off an apartment building to his death following a breakup with his girlfriend. If there had a teacher he could have confided in, he may not have taken his own life.
These poor kids are being left abandoned. When they get dejected, they have no one to turn to.
The increasing suicide rate is a symptom of a society that is critically ill. Its members are screaming in pain.
Korean society is infected by the contagious virus of suicide. The nation remains vulnerable to the virus, which is spreading quickly. A precise diagnosis is essential to identify the hosts for the deadly virus. Not only the government but also schools and our whole community must combine forces to raise grassroots awareness of the severity of this virus and come up with countermeasures.
It's easy to blame others for all the stress. But we also need to check ourselves. Aren't we running too fast without knowing where to go? If so, we may have to slow down a bit and look around. Then we will be able to help curb the further spread of the virus.