By Kim Bo-eun
Teenage suicide rates have doubled in the past decade, the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency said Wednesday.
The agency has published a report on teenage suicide prevention, based on a conference attended by experts, government officials and those in the fields of religion and education in July.
The experts from various fields discussed the results of a study on teenage suicide by the Ministry of Health and Welfare from each of the fields they represented.
According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rates of teenagers aged 15 to 19 was 8.3 per 100,000 in 2010. The percentage of deaths attributed to suicide soared from 14 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2009, making it the number one cause of teenage deaths.
In contrast the rates for other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are falling.
An online survey by the agency on the mental health of teenagers showed that 4.44 percent have attempted suicide while 18.97 percent have considered it.
Stress arising from personal relationships and depression were found to be factors for adolescents considering taking their own lives.
There have been various efforts by schools, local communities and the medical field to prevent suicide but they lack the resources and budget to effectively tackle the problem. Experts at the conference also agreed that there is a lack of cooperation among related institutions.
The conference highlighted the importance of cooperation and ties between the fields and addressed the need to draw up necessary guidelines to improve the situation. It also urged the creation of a teenage suicide prevention program by the government.
In addition, the experts requested the media to exercise caution over reporting about cases of suicide as teenagers have a tendency to be impulsive and are likely to be easily influenced.
The ministry plans to include this content in its policy on preventing suicide to be established during the second half of the year.