China Focus: Experts urge suicide prevention system( Xinhua) 21:02, September 09, 2013 Suicide has been a taboo topic in China in the past, but it is now one of the most seriousproblems the country must face despite its booming economy.
Tuesday, Sept. 10 marks the 11th World Suicide Prevention Day, and some Chineseexperts are calling for a national suicide prevention system to reduce the suicide rate inChina, which has declined drastically in recent years but remains high.
According to statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009, suicidesin China accounted for 26 percent of total suicides worldwide, putting it in the top fivecauses of death in the country.
"A variety of reasons contribute to the high suicide rate, including social, economic, culturaland environmental factors," said Xia Xueluan, professor of sociology at Peking University.
Enormous societal change, which can lead to feelings of confusion and alienation, is one ofthe most important reasons for the high suicide rate, Xia said, adding that people inmodern society face more pressures and difficulties, which can be too much for somepeople.
SUICIDE HIGH AMONG ELDERLY
In recent years, the suicide rate among the elderly rose to a worrying high, more thanthree times higher than other age groups, according to Xiao Shuiyuan, a professor with theChina Association of Mental Health.
Research from the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center showed that the suiciderate among people over the age of 65 has risen sharply.
Li Baoku, president of the China Aging Development Foundation, revealed that the suiciderate of elderly living in rural areas is four to five times higher than the world average.
An investigation by the China National Committee on Ageing in 2007 showed that 18percent of elderly in urban areas often feel lonely, while 31 percent of elderly ruralresidents suffered from loneliness. The investigation also indicated that 2.6 percent ofelderly people in cities thought about suicide, while 4.9 percent of rural elderly thoughtabout suicide.
Experts believe that having children and relatives away from home, disease and povertyare the main causes of suicide among the elderly. As China becomes a graying society andan increasing number of left-behind older people emerge, elder suicide may become asevere social problem in the future.
Despite the problems of older people, China has seen its suicide rate drop significantlycompared with the increasing global suicide rate, which has increased by 60 percentagepoints over the past 45 years.
Xiao said that the reasons for China's decrease include more opportunities for people indiverse fields. The country has also been striving to make efforts to prevent suicide.
One sign of progress is that the suicide rate among rural Chinese women has droppeddramatically. In the 1980s, family disputes, unhappy marriages, poverty and easy accessto pesticides contributed to a suicide rate exceeding 30 in 100,000 among rural women.The rate fell to 7.87 in 100,000 in 2009. The drop in the suicide rate of rural women maybe due to mass migration to urban areas, ridding women of undeveloped living conditionsand helping them gain legal and social assistance.
"Even one case of suicide is too much for society. I strongly advise that China create anational strategy to prevent suicide as soon as possible like some other countries havedone," Xiao said.
We need to enhance psychological health education among people, improve the currentmental health service system, keep eradicating suicide, reduce discrimination of those whohave attempted suicide, as well as create more mental crisis intervention organizations, Xiasaid.
Xia suggested that China learn from the experience of other countries to set up a suicideprevention network nationwide, and the government should organize professional teamsand recruit more participants, including police, social workers and volunteers, to cope withthe problem.
（Editor：WangXin、Hongyu） Related reading
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