An average of four people per hour attempted suicide in Taiwan last year, the Taiwanese Society of Suicidology (TSOS) and the National Suicide Prevention Center said yesterday ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on Thursday.
Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed that there were 35,324 reports of attempted suicide last year based on people being taken to hospitals after such attempts, or an average of four people per hour, TSOS director Lee Ming-been (李明濱) said.
The death rate from suicides in Taiwan has declined annually since 2006, with suicide dropping out of the nation’s top 10 leading causes of death in 2010, he said.
In 2006, 4,406 people killed themselves, while last year only 3,864 people did so, about the same as the year before, he added.
However, the number of young people, defined as between the ages of 15 and 24, who killed themselves rose by 47, or 22.4 percent, last year, Lee said.
Liao Shih-cheng (廖士程), a member of the TSOS’ executive council, said the suicide mortality rate for young people has increased from 6.4 per 100,000 people in 2017 to 9.1 per 100,000 people last year, similar to what is happening in several other countries.
The most common form of suicide in this age group is falling from a height, and emotional and mental health problems, as well as problems at school, were among the main reasons for the suicide attempts, Liao said.
Lee said the TSOS’ annual survey on mental health and suicide awareness and behavior of people aged 15 and above found this year that 5.9 percent of respondents — an estimated 1.21 million people — suffer from emotional distress, down from 8.3 percent in 2018.
About 12.1 percent of respondents — or an estimated 2.47 million people — claimed to have had suicidal thoughts at least once in their lifetime, and 2.2 percent — or about 443,000 people — have seriously thought about suicide in the past year, the survey found.
This year’s survey also asked respondents whether the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them, and 45.5 percent of respondents said it had caused them stress in the past month, Lee said.
While people aged between 25 and 44, who were “unemployed” and “divorced or lost their spouse,” usually had the highest stress levels in previous surveys, “business operators” and people who are “divorced or lost their spouse” reported the highest levels of stress this year, he said.
“Working together to prevent suicide” has been the slogan for World Suicide Prevention Day for the past three years, the TSOS said.
The day is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and cosponsored by the WHO.
More people should try to become suicide prevention gatekeepers — by asking and caring for people who appear to need help — and referring them to specialists for counseling or treatment, Lee said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s all hours free suicide prevention hotline number is 1925, while the Teacher Chang Foundation’s (張老師基金會) hotline is 1980.
Additional reporting by staff writer
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and