A recent survey aimed at learning more about suicide prevention has revealed that 40 percent of respondents thought suicide was an act of cowardice that caused the victim to lose face. As many as half of those surveyed said that talking to a person with suicidal tendencies was likely to put themselves at greater risk of committing suicide. Such findings demonstrate that the general public view the topic of suicide in a negative light and generally try to avoid it.
The survey, commissioned by Taipei City’s Department of Health, interviewed 1,400 people. It found that 47.7 percent of respondents had considered committing suicide, of which half decided not to discuss their problems with either someone close to them or a counseling organization. The most common reason given for this was that they thought they could handle the problem themselves (63.2 percent), while 34.1 percent believed professional help to be ineffective. Another 27.8 percent wanted to avoid troubling other people.
The Health Department said that half of respondents did not feel comfortable talking about suicide in public, and that when they encounter problems or have suicidal feelings they prefer to deal with the problem themselves rather than seeking help.
PHOTO: EPA 照片:歐新社
The health department analyzed statistics from the suicide prevention center for the first half of the year and found that as many as 210 young people between 15 and 24 considered suicide as a way to solve the problems they have in their life. This represents 16 percent of all suicide attempts, which is why it is seen as necessary to provide youngsters with another way to deal with life’s difficulties.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
一份自殺防治認知問卷調查結果,四成民眾認為自殺行為是懦弱、有失顏面的事,也有五成受訪者認為和想自殺的人談論自殺會提高他們自殺的危險性,顯示民眾對自殺議題的負面與懼怕接觸的心態。
台北市衛生局指出,這份問卷針對一千四百位民眾調查,四十七點七%民眾表示自己曾有自殺的念頭,半數的民眾在有自殺念頭時,選擇不尋求任何人或機構協助的多重複選原因中,以自己能夠處理的比例最高,達六十三點二%,其次則是覺得求助沒有用,達三十四點一%,以及造成別人的麻煩,達二十七點八%。
台北市衛生局說,有半數的民眾對於公開談論自殺易抱持較為負面的想法,在自己遭遇困境或自殺危機時,亦傾向採取自行面對而不求助的做法。
台北市衛生局提醒民眾,分析北市自殺防治中心一月至六月自殺企圖者的資料,十五至二十四歲青少年以自殺行為來解決生活不順遂者高達兩百一十人次,約佔總自殺企圖者的十六%,有必要透過多方面角度提供青少年在面對生活困境時另一種可能的思考。
(自由時報記者林相美)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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