The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday— Rejoice— The Catholic Peace Weekly has an article on the suicide of the young and a message we need to hear.
Young people in their 20s and 30s who were worried about the extreme choice— suicide—confessed they actually wanted to live, looking back on the painful past. Restoring the dignity of human life and protecting human rights are the priorities of the church and society.
Experts on the subject see the rapidly increasing youth suicide rate as a social problem. One professor cited three major factors for suicide. First of all, it is the absence of means to make the pain bearable. This plays the role of arousing the young person going through a difficult situation to turn his attention away from the extreme choice. It can be the joy of travel or hobbies, or even creating another stress through work. In general, it is an easy way to access it, but it is difficult for young people who do not have enough money and are not employed. The second is the breakdown of the community. The role played in the community and the responsibility that comes from it are important factors in removing suicidal behavior. Today, when collective solidarity is weakening with the nuclear families and individualism, this is bound to collapse. Finally, it is a biased suicide prevention policy. Current prevention policies are focused on the high-risk group for suicide. We need to think of a broader approach.
Another Social Welfare Professor (former director of the Seoul Suicide Prevention Center) also said: “There are various causes of youth suicide, such as economic difficulties, family disintegration, loneliness, and instability in employment, housing, and relationships. It is wrong to see it only as a personal issue.” At the same time, he said: "It is important to provide the minimum conditions necessary for human life. We need to think together about the needs of young people and come up with measures or policies to prevent suicide."
Youth suicide is not a problem unique to Korea. Domestic and foreign experts who attended the 2022 Suicide Prevention Humanities Open Forum hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Respect for Life and Hope Foundation last October diagnosed the youth suicide problem facing our society and sought better prevention methods.
A representative from Japan, introduced the national prevention measures while conveying the current status of Japan's youth suicide rate, which is similar to Korea's. He is working on suicide prevention with the government at the non-profit organization Lifelink, a suicide countermeasure support center.
Lifelink is conducting social media counseling for those who are contemplating extreme choices. This is similar to Korea, but there is a difference in linking government departments, institutions, organizations, and experts according to the circumstances of those needing help. Awareness-raising activities are provided. “We are trying to spread the best practices by showing young people how to overcome crises through popular media such as animation, movies, and dramas.” It is to show that there is an option other than death. It is also important to provide relevant education to minors because prevention policies become less effective as they age. The purpose is to provide information on how to request SOS for mental illness in advance so that people can respond to crises that come after they become young adults.
It was made clear that religion can also be a powerful force in preventing extreme choice problems for all age groups. One professor said: “Seeing that the suicide rate was lower than now even during the IMF period, when all fields such as economy, society, and culture were stagnant, it is questionable whether the intensity of suffering affects the extreme choice. We need to expand the collective approach.”
The core of the collective approach is community. This means that the sense of oppression that comes from collective behavior, such as social customs and rules, is quite effective in suppressing extreme behavior patterns.“The rural community, which was the center of gravity in the past, has long since collapsed in our country and has already reached a state where it cannot be restored. The alternative that can restore it is religion,” he said. In particular, the orientation of ‘Catholicism’, which means universality, can play a significant role in reducing the overall suicide rate. The professor cites the fact that “the suicide rate in countries such as South America where Catholicism was the traditional belief that emphasizes the value of the group is significantly lower than in countries that do not.” When considering this reality it tells us that solidarity from religion has a greater impact than the degree of suffering.
