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cmxc
Joined: 19 May 2008
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 Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:03 pm Post subject: Korea's suicide rate triple OECD's average |
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No matter how strongly one attempts to defend Korea from her detractors, it boils down to this: When a country leads the world in its citizens, both young and old, off'ing themselves, something is seriously flawed with that nation.
Key quote from article:
"Korea has consistently reported some of the highest suicide rates, not only among OECD countries but the world, indicating that there could be serious social problems involved."
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/11/116_146676.html |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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| Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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I think everyone agrees suicide is a problem. One is one too many anywhere.
Statistically speaking though a difference of two hundredths of one percent is pretty insignificant.
I don't think the OP is really interested in what the statistics say or don't say though...
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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To me, it's sad either way. It's easy to point fingers at mental health neglect, or the competitive stress here - but I'm guessing there are lots of reasons why those numbers are high.
Instead of annual reports on these numbers, I'd love to see the gov (and related organizations) doing something proactive about it. |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Isn't the suicide rate for young people (15-24) higher in the US than here? |
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:06 am Post subject: |
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| optik404 wrote: |
| Isn't the suicide rate for young people (15-24) higher in the US than here? |
No, it's not. I can't find the stats, but I remember the US is down the list a bit. New Zealand was the highest for awhile, but they've managed to get it under control since the late 1990s.
The scary/shocking/interesting thing about the Korean suicide rate is how quickly it has increased in the last 10-12 years. It basically tripled in 10 years. http://fromkoreawithlove.org/2011/05/31/suicide-in-korea/
Korea usually comes in somewhere in the top "Unhappiest Nations" surveys and "Unhappiest Kids". I would be unhappy if I was a kid here and from what I've seen (admittedly only a small window) of kids and the education system here, there is very little support for kids who might be heading down that path. If it doesn't effect test scores no ones going to give a shit. |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:27 am Post subject: |
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| cabeza wrote: |
| optik404 wrote: |
| Isn't the suicide rate for young people (15-24) higher in the US than here? |
No, it's not. I can't find the stats, but I remember the US is down the list a bit. New Zealand was the highest for awhile, but they've managed to get it under control since the late 1990s.
The scary/shocking/interesting thing about the Korean suicide rate is how quickly it has increased in the last 10-12 years. It basically tripled in 10 years. http://fromkoreawithlove.org/2011/05/31/suicide-in-korea/
Korea usually comes in somewhere in the top "Unhappiest Nations" surveys and "Unhappiest Kids". I would be unhappy if I was a kid here and from what I've seen (admittedly only a small window) of kids and the education system here, there is very little support for kids who might be heading down that path. If it doesn't effect test scores no ones going to give a shit. |
I'd like to see those stats. I find it hard to believe that among young people (15-24), Korea beats out the US in suicide. According to the CDC, 3rd leading cause of death in that age bracket is suicide. |
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rabidcake
Joined: 10 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:06 am Post subject: |
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I have argued this before and will argue this again. This is not meant to be a defense for Korea's status as I know that suicides are a terrible part of Korean cultural stress.
However, I believe statistics like this are not as objective. How should one classify a suicide? Sadly, whether someone was in a suicide or someone was in an accident is an subjective opinion and is much harder to measure.
Let's take a case that may be common in the USA. An angry man drinks a large amount of alcohol and proceeds to drive in an angry fit. He then crashes and dies. Suicide? It is hard to interpret.
In Korea such destructive deaths are not as common and categorizing deaths is much easier. However, a lot of deaths in the USA that are common (Drug overdose, car road rage, etc) can be difficult to classify as either suicide or accident.
In conclusion, I feel there's a lot more to the statistics that meets the eye. |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| optik404 wrote: |
I'd like to see those stats. I find it hard to believe that among young people (15-24), Korea beats out the US in suicide. According to the CDC, 3rd leading cause of death in that age bracket is suicide. |
The suicide rate among young Koreans is high: 15 per 100,000 15-24-year-olds, compared with ten Americans, seven Chinese and five Britons.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541713
I think you'll find suicide as cause of death pretty high for 15-24 in any developed nation. Along with car crashes. Thankfully in this day and age young people aren't being killed by Polio or Typhoid or something along those lines. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| optik404 wrote: |
| cabeza wrote: |
| optik404 wrote: |
| Isn't the suicide rate for young people (15-24) higher in the US than here? |
No, it's not. I can't find the stats, but I remember the US is down the list a bit. New Zealand was the highest for awhile, but they've managed to get it under control since the late 1990s.
The scary/shocking/interesting thing about the Korean suicide rate is how quickly it has increased in the last 10-12 years. It basically tripled in 10 years. http://fromkoreawithlove.org/2011/05/31/suicide-in-korea/
Korea usually comes in somewhere in the top "Unhappiest Nations" surveys and "Unhappiest Kids". I would be unhappy if I was a kid here and from what I've seen (admittedly only a small window) of kids and the education system here, there is very little support for kids who might be heading down that path. If it doesn't effect test scores no ones going to give a shit. |
I'd like to see those stats. I find it hard to believe that among young people (15-24), Korea beats out the US in suicide. According to the CDC, 3rd leading cause of death in that age bracket is suicide. |
I thought I read that at some point suicide was the #1 cause of death for Korean teens.
Honestly though, at a certain point, it's just splitting hairs. It's sad either way you slice it - especially when ya think of young ones choosing this option. |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| cabeza wrote: |
| optik404 wrote: |
I'd like to see those stats. I find it hard to believe that among young people (15-24), Korea beats out the US in suicide. According to the CDC, 3rd leading cause of death in that age bracket is suicide. |
The suicide rate among young Koreans is high: 15 per 100,000 15-24-year-olds, compared with ten Americans, seven Chinese and five Britons.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541713
I think you'll find suicide as cause of death pretty high for 15-24 in any developed nation. Along with car crashes. Thankfully in this day and age young people aren't being killed by Polio or Typhoid or something along those lines. |
The OECD link seems more credible than this article.
Of course, sad either way. I do agree with rabidcake though, knew a lot of guys growing up that overdosed and died. These were veteran drug users, so a part of me thinks they knew they would OD. Sad, one guy I knew had a baby boy a month prior, then he OD's on heroin. |
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:13 am Post subject: |
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A lot of publications you could question the veracity of facts. The Economist is pretty golden when it comes to use of facts and statisitics.
Don't call them into question just becuase they prove your original statement incorrect.
The OECD report is for 15-19 and so cut 5 cruical years out of the period we are talking about. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:23 am Post subject: |
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It's old people, during the economic growth of the 80s and 90s they spent their retirement cash on their kids education so they could have the opportunties that they never had....Korea didn't begin it's national pension until 1988 so there isn't that much money in the pot... so apart from those who got lucky with property most seniors are living in poverty and have decided to cash out a few years ahead of schedule.
It's a terrible shame and will continue as middle class Koreans are up to their eyeballs in debt, it's also a trend that will spread to western countries as be it socialized or company wise pension cash is going to dry up...and these days living till 80 or 90 ain't uncommon.
Either get lucky on property or work until you drop (or check out). |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| cabeza wrote: |
A lot of publications you could question the veracity of facts. The Economist is pretty golden when it comes to use of facts and statisitics.
Don't call them into question just becuase they prove your original statement incorrect.
The OECD report is for 15-19 and so cut 5 cruical years out of the period we are talking about. |
Not calling them in to question, they didn't cite the source of the data. |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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