I was flabbergasted to read your report ("Students at risk of suicide," Aug. 7, page 3). In it, you write that according to a recent survey sponsored by the Taiwan Association of Clinical Psychiatrists, 10.21 percent of the students surveyed "have attempted suicide in the past year." Are you absolutely sure of this figure?
I have often found that students do not understand the literal meaning of "suicide" and "to commit suicide." I care very much about the fine distinctions here because the proper use of terminology affects attitudes and behavior. Don't you really mean that 10 percent of the students in the survey "have thought at one time or the other of taking their life," or "have had occasional suicidal thoughts"? Do you really mean that high a percentage of young people in the survey actually tried to do this awful thing? I find the notion very hard to believe.
During times of unusual stress, sadness or discouragement, or for persons suffering clinical depression, it may be natural for people to have a fleeting fantasy of say, hurling themselves in front of a passing car or of throwing away the precious gift of their own life. But thank heavens most of us recognize nonsense when we see it, and we let go of such fantasies or thoughts. We do not act on them.
Please tell us, then: does that survey really mean what you reported? Also, was the survey taken among a certain select group of young people, or was it a random survey? Finally, how was the survey conducted?
Father Daniel Bauer
Fu Jen Catholic University
[For answers to these questions, readers should try contacting the Taiwan Association of Clinical Psychiatrists, which conducted the survey, at 03-2653445. - Ed.]
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