Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Study finds correlation between pandemic-induced socio-economic difficulties and suicide
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By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
One in five people who died by suicide since 2020 had suffered exacerbated socio-economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a government report, Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare disclosed the results of psychological autopsies compiled between 2015 and 2021 through joint research conducted with the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Psychological autopsy refers to a series of analyses conducted to look into the deceased's mental state before death. It involves interviews with families, friends and others who had contact with the person before his or her death, as well as medical reports and the police investigation.
Of the 132 suicide cases reported since January 2020, 29 deaths ― or 22 percent ― were found to be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study found that these 29 people ― 19 men and 10 women ― had already been suffering from difficulties such as unstable employment status, difficult relationships or mental health issues before the onset of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, the COVID-19 outbreak significantly worsened these conditions, eventually leading them to decide to end their lives.
Twenty-three people had experienced financial difficulties, with 10 of them struggling with debt issues and eight expressing severe anxiety about possible economic hardships in the future.
Of them, nine people were working in industries that were heavily hit by the pandemic such as tourism, entertainment and education. Two people, whose areas of occupation were not revealed, suffered from overwork, which was caused by the health crisis.
Between 2015 and 2021, the authorities conducted psychological autopsies on 801 suicide cases, which involved interviews with 952 family members.
Among the total cases, 67 percent were men and 32 percent were women. Each deceased person was found to have suffered an average of three stress factors such as problems in family relationships, financial hardships and job loss.
The researchers highlighted that 94 percent of people who died by suicide showed behavioral, verbal and emotional warning signs, such as sleeping too much or too little, isolating oneself, or talking about suicide, meaning that their deaths could have been preventable, had these warning signs been addressed.
Since 2015, the government has launched annual psychological autopsy studies to find solutions to the country's rising suicide rate, which remains the highest among the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD.