Working in the preventive medicine department of the Catholic University Medical School, the professor laments the lack of a support system within society to prevent suicides, and praises the Gate Keeper Movement who have taken on the task. All of us have the mission of gate keepers, she said, in helping to put an end to the suicides. Last year in the Seoul Diocese there were efforts to educate the parishioners about the Gate Keepers, and to making us more sensitive to picking up the signs of those who were contemplating suicide among all segments of society.
The most likely danger signals are feelings of isolation, recent divorce, unemployment, bodily disabilities, death of a loved one, mental traumas, past mental problems, dependence on alcohol, and depression. Also at risk are people of fragile temperament who are placed in a situation where they see only the dark side, and those who have experienced a loss, even in small matters. Once suicide has been attempted the chances are high that they will try again.
If our intervention is not successful, persuading persons at-risk to seek professional help would be the next step. Also important: the media has to stop sensationalizing their accounts of these deaths. The Seoul diocese has also helped by providing information on suicide prevention from their One-Body One-Spirit Center in suicide prevention.
Why so many suicides? The professor said that a random sample taken on eight different occasions found discord in the family harder to accept than problems with school studies and violence. Children who need help from family and are not receiving it are especially in need of help--help that often can only be given by religion; the schools cannot fill that gap. She hopes that the Sunday School teachers, the Legion of Mary, and other organizations will take a more active interest in the problem, and use the Gate Keeper's educational programs to help stem a growing threat to a stable, sane society.
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