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Conference aims to cut suicide rate

Writer Hwang Chun-ming, right, speaks at a suicide prevention conference organized by the Dharma Drum Mountain Foundation in Taipei yesterday. Wu is joined by director Wu Nien-jen, left, Lee Ming-been, director of the Suicide Prevention Center under the Department of Health, second left, and Master Sheng Yen. PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

A conference was held yesterday in Taipei with the aim of informing the public that suicides can be prevented if more care is shown to potential suicide victims.

Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), who attended the conference hosted by the Dharma Drum Mountain Foundation, said more than 4,000 people took their own lives last year.

To target the problem, the interior ministry now helps families judged to be at high suicide risk by providing them with NT$3,000 (US$92.42) per month, Lee said.

"It is not a lot of money, but it gives these families a little bit of hope, and hopefully enough to live on," he said.

Lee Ming-been (李明濱), the director of the Suicide Prevention Center, said that at least 90 percent of suicide victims tell their families and friends they feel suicidal.

Lee Ming-been said that according to a recent survey conducted by the center, 1.8 percent of the total population over the age of 18 had thought of committing suicide over the past year.

He added that 0.5 percent had m planned out suicides, and 0.2 percent had carried out the plans.

However, few people actually listen to potential suicide victims, and therefore the thought of committing suicide gradually develops into a plan, and then on an impulse victims carry out the suicide.

"Suicide is preventable," Lee Ming-been said. "We need to give a little more care and listen to the troubled people around us."

"If people contemplating suicide thought about their responsibilities towards their families and friends, they can then learn and in turn help others who need help," said Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴法師), the founder of the foundation.

Writer Hwang Chun-ming (黃春明) and director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真) also attended the conference, having both experienced suicides within their families.
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