At least 2 million Chinese try to kill themselves each year and
about 250,000 of them succeed, making suicide a serious social
issue, according to mental health experts.
Figures disclosed in Beijing Tuesday confirm an early estimation by
the Ministry of Health that about 22 people out of every 100,000
people across the country commit suicide every year, Xinhua News
Agency reported.
The suicide rate in China is above the level in the United States,
Canada, and Britain, but lower than in some eastern European
nations such as Hungary and Lithuania, where the ratio stands
between 40 and 50 suicide cases per 100,000 people, said Professor
Zhai Shutao, a suicide researcher.
In
spite of the Confucian
teaching deeply rooted among Chinese that one's body given by his
or her parents should never be hurt, a growing number of people in
China have chosen to take their own lives in the 20th century, Zhai
said.
However, scientific research has only been made in recent decades.
It found that rural people and females run a higher risk of suicide
than urban residents and males, and the suicide rates of young and
old people are particularly high.
Zhai said the reasons why humans commit suicide are complicated.
For example, some are too fragile to bear setbacks or grief. And
some hurt themselves because of mental disorders.
"Sufferers of mental disorders, particularly depression, run a very
high risk of suicide," he said.
Out of 1.3 billion people in China, about 16 million suffer from
serious mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, and an additional
6 million people suffer from epilepsy, vice health minister Yin
Dakui said at a national conference on mental health Tuesday.
About 30 million children under the age of 17 are plagued by
psychological and behavioral problems, and old-age mental problems
and alcoholic and drug dependence are also emerging as health
problems, he said.
Zhai said crisis intervention and preventive efforts can help lower
the suicide rate in the country.
(Eastday.com October 31,
2001)