Although the incidence of suicide has decreased in recent years — dropping to No. 11 among the leading causes of death in Taiwan — officials and the medical community are worried because suicide has became the second-biggest cause of death last year of people between the ages of 15 to 24.
Executives at the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center said the high incidence of suicide among young people is mainly due to problems in dealing with romantic relationships and academic stress, adding that bullying at school can result in victims feeling trapped in a vicious cycle of abuse, thus becoming part of the suicide high-risk group.
According to recent official statistics, suicide has dropped off from the top 10 list of leading causes of death through the past four years. The rate has been in decline for most age groups.
There were about 3,500 deaths by suicide last year, down 200 from 2012.
Suicide among men is at twice the rate of women in Taiwan.
The youngest suicide occurred in a 12-year-old last year, with four suicides overall for people under the age of 14, according to government data.
Among young people aged between 14 and 25, there were 166 suicides last year.
For the 65-or-over age group, the leading cause of suicidal tendencies was suffering a chronic illness, at about 40 percent.
For the 24-and-under age group, the main causes were problems in dealing with love or interpersonal relationship, at more than 60 percent.
This was followed by problems at school, mental health troubles and drug abuse at about 20 percent.
Chang China-ming (張家銘), the center’s director and professor of psychiatry at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said he has treated several cases of school bullying after student victims sought help at his hospital.
“Bullying has a big impact on their mental well-being, making them less eager to socialize. The victim is withdrawn from society, staying at home more, and tends to have negative thoughts,” Chang said.
He said some people became part of the high-risk group when they felt their achievements were below par, they were perfectionists, had flawed social skills, were unable to control their emotions, had low self-esteem and lacked support from school and family members.
Chang said that these days most families do not eat dinner together, and even when they do, most people are busy playing with their smartphones.
“Many parents don’t even know their children have suicidal tendencies. When children have declining academic performance, take frequent sick leave, have symptoms of self-mutilation or verbally express negative thoughts, all these are warning signs,” he said.
Chang said some parents became aware of their children’s suicidal thoughts only after seeing their posted messages on Facebook and other social networking sites.
Liu Chung-cheng (劉仲成), head of the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Department, said his ministry has set up mechanisms for reporting school bullying.
“There were 205 confirmed cases of school bullying last year, a reduction of 88 cases from 2012,” he said.
He urged victims of school bullying not to contemplate suicide.
“They should actively seek support and help. Victims of bullying should speak out with courage, so that their case can be handled properly. All schools have letterbox and e-mail addresses to report bullying problems. Our ministry has a hotline for reporting school bullying on 0800-200-885,” he said.
‘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