Tricia Mohamed asked 12 months ago
Why is the suicide rate so high? What’s the age range among the highest group?
1 Answers
Danny Kim Staff answered 12 months ago
There are multitude of reasons, as Janet mentioned above – mental health is one of them. Korean society is highly competitive, and they compete and compare with each other on every level – wealth, appearance, the size of their heads(not joking), the cars they drive etc. Thus it’s easy to see why suicide rates are so high when someone falls ‘out of the competition’.
However, looking at statistics, the age range with the highest suicide rates are actually the elderly, especially elderly men. In 2020, there was an average of 118 suicides among men above age 80 per 100,000 people. This is extremely disproportionate to the rest of age groups in all genders. I think most of it has to do with men feeling helpless after being unable to support themselves financially, and their health deteriorating and being unable to treat it.
One interesting thing to note is that men’s suicide rates increase as they age, where as women generally stay the same during their adulthood. This is also probably due to higher expectations put on men to bring food to the table, and if they fail it puts a label on them.
However, looking at statistics, the age range with the highest suicide rates are actually the elderly, especially elderly men. In 2020, there was an average of 118 suicides among men above age 80 per 100,000 people. This is extremely disproportionate to the rest of age groups in all genders. I think most of it has to do with men feeling helpless after being unable to support themselves financially, and their health deteriorating and being unable to treat it.
One interesting thing to note is that men’s suicide rates increase as they age, where as women generally stay the same during their adulthood. This is also probably due to higher expectations put on men to bring food to the table, and if they fail it puts a label on them.
Thank you.
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replied 12 months ago
I would say suicide rates are highest among high school students because of the lack thereof for mental health. There’s the focus on academics, getting the highest grades while in school, and getting into the best colleges. Students typically go to school from early morning to late afternoon then stay at school for “self-study”, which they tend to stay until midnight. There is also the high beauty standards, which kind of “encourages” bullying of the “ugly” students, also leads to suicide.
replied 11 months ago
Thank you.