Study on Suicide (eBook)

Introduction—Suicide: A Grave Social and Public Health Issue 5
References 8
Contents 10
1 Suicides in China: Rates, Means, and Distribution 14
1 Suicide Mortality Rate 15
1.1 Suicide Mortality Rate in China 15
1.2 Causes of Death for Working Age Population in Urban and Rural China 18
1.2.1 The Statistical Approach 18
1.2.2 Discussions 26
1.3 Key Feature of Suicides on the Mainland of China 35
1.4 Suicide Rate in Hong Kong 35
1.5 Suicide Rate in Taiwan 40
2 Attempted Suicide and Suicidal Ideation Rates 43
2.1 Over Two Million Failed Attempts in China Each Year 43
2.2 High Risk of Repeat Attempts 44
2.3 Suicidal Ideation Rate 45
2.3.1 High Rates of Suicidal Ideation in China 45
2.3.2 Suicidal Ideation Rate in Hong Kong and Taiwan 46
3 Gender Ratio of Suicide 47
3.1 Higher Suicide Rates Among Women 47
3.2 More Male Suicides: Suicide Sex Ratio Among Populations in the Mainland of China 49
4 China Falls Under the “East Asian Model” of Suicide Age Distribution 49
5 A Comparative Study on the Means of Suicide 51
5.1 Primary Means of Suicide in the Chinese Mainland 51
5.1.1 Suicide by Poisoning and Hanging 52
5.1.2 Falls (Jumps): From High-Rises and Bridges 53
5.1.3 Railway Suicides: Railroads and Subway Rails 55
5.1.4 Suicide During the Spring Festival Travel Crush 56
5.1.5 Suicide by Explosion 57
5.1.6 Self-immolation 58
5.1.7 Suicide by Disembowelment 58
5.1.8 “Online” Suicides 59
5.2 Primary Means of Suicide in Hong Kong 59
6 Temporal Distribution of Suicide 60
6.1 Seasonal Distribution 60
6.2 Suicides by the Hours of the Day 62
6.3 Post-disaster Suicides 62
7 Places of Suicide 64
7.1 Suicide by Poisoning and Hanging Largely Occur Indoors 64
7.2 Jumps Mainly Occur on High-Rises and Bridges 65
7.3 Committing Suicide at Famous Natural Attractions 65
7.4 Geographic Distribution of Suicides 66
References 67
2 Suicide Among Chinese Women 70
1 Suicides Among Women: A Significant Social Issue 71
1.1 Suicide Among Rural Women Is a Severe Problem 71
1.2 “Impulse Suicides”: A Hallmark of Suicides Among Rural Women 74
2 “Contagiousness” of Suicide and Collective Suicides 76
2.1 “Contagiousness” of Suicide, and the Werther Effect 76
2.2 The Serious Problem of Collective Suicides 77
2.3 Family Suicides Led by Adult Women 78
3 Suicides for Love 81
3.1 Suicide Triggered by Breakups of Romantic Relationships 81
3.2 Suicide for Love 82
3.3 Suicides Caused by Broken Marriages and Extramarital Relationships 83
4 High Suicide Rate Among Women 85
4.1 Double Roles and Double Discriminations 86
4.2 Flaws in Traditional Attitudes 88
4.3 Proliferation of Agrochemicals and an Inadequate Public Health System 89
4.4 Family and Marital Problems: The Top Cause 91
4.5 Migrant Workers and the Risks of Their Families 94
4.6 Widening Wealth Gap, Flaws in the Social Security System, and “Farmer Exploitation” 96
4.7 Flaws in Rural Social Organizations and a Less Integrated Society 99
References 101
3 Youth Suicide in China 104
1 Suicide Among Chinese Youths: A Fairly Grave Issue 104
1.1 Relatively High Youth Suicide Rate 105
1.2 Gender Ratio of Youth Suicide 117
2 Suicide Tends to Occur at a Lower Age 117
2.1 Test-Oriented Education and Study-Related Stress 118
2.1.1 Physical and Mental Health Issues Caused by Study-Related Stress 119
2.1.2 Suicides on the First Day of a School Term 120
2.1.3 Pressure from Teachers 121
2.1.4 Bullying and Youth Suicides 123
2.2 Suicide at a Lower Age and Mental Maladies 124
2.2.1 The Worrying State of Psychological Health Among China’s Minors 124
2.2.2 Defects in Emotional, Personality, and Humanity Education for the Young 126
2.2.3 Family Factors for Child Suicide 128
The Impact of Discipline in the Home 129
The Impact of Interpersonal Relationships in the Home 130
The Impact of Family Structure 131
3 The “Twitter Effect” and Youth Suicide 132
3.1 Media Influence and the “Celebrity Effect” 133
3.2 Idol Worship and Suicides by Fans 135
3.3 Instigation of Publications Such as the Complete Manual of Suicide 136
3.4 The Influence of Unsavory Animation Content 137
4 Negative Impact of the Internet 138
4.1 Negative Impact of the Internet on Youth 140
4.2 Internet-Related Mental Disorders and Suicide 144
4.3 Websites Dedicated to Suicide and “Online” Suicide 146
4.4 Addiction to Online Games 148
5 Mental Illness and Youth Suicide 150
5.1 Poor Mental Health Conditions Among Chinese Youths 152
5.2 Psychological Characteristics of Youth Suicides 158
5.2.1 Cognitive Function 159
5.2.2 Emotions 160
5.2.3 Interpersonal Relationships 160
5.2.4 Stressful Event 161
5.2.5 Impulsive Suicide and Rational Suicide 162
5.3 Psychological Conflicts in Youths at a Time of Social Transformation 162
5.3.1 Psychological Conflicts in Response to Social Change 163
5.3.2 Psychological Conflicts Amid Socialization Process of the Young 163
5.3.3 Psychological Conflicts Arising from Interpersonal Interactions 164
5.3.4 Psychological Conflicts Arising from Encounters with an Unfamiliar Environment 165
5.4 Depression, Personality Disorders, and Suicidal Behavior 166
5.4.1 Depression and Youth Suicides 166
5.4.2 Personality Disorders and Youth Suicide 173
5.5 Psychosexual Problems in Youth and Suicide 177
5.5.1 Delayed Sex Education and Prominent Sex-Related Issues 177
5.5.2 Sexual Inversion and Suicide 180
5.6 Drug Abuse by Youths and Borderline Suicide 182
5.7 Drug Abuse and Youth Suicide 186
References 187
4 Elderly Suicide 193
1 Elderly Suicide: A Serious Problem 193
1.1 Fast Population Aging in China 193
1.2 Increase in Elderly Suicide 194
2 Current Situation of Elderly Suicide 195
2.1 Suicidal Ideation, Suicidal Deaths, and Failed Suicide Attempts 195
2.1.1 Suicidal Death Rates Are High 195
2.1.2 Seniors Have High Incidence of Suicidal Ideation and Failed Suicide Attempts 200
2.2 Special Features of Elderly Suicide 202
2.2.1 Elderly Suicide: Urban Versus Rural 202
Different Suicide Rates 202
Different Suicide Methods 203
Different Motivations 203
2.2.2 Elderly Suicide Versus Youth Suicide 203
2.2.3 Elderly Suicide’s Telltale Signs and Causes 204
3 Survey of Town S in Zunyi County, Guizhou 204
3.1 Target of Study 204
3.2 Basic Information 206
3.2.1 Elderly Suicide Rate in Town S 206
3.2.2 Age Distribution 207
3.2.3 Gender 207
3.2.4 Methods 208
3.2.5 Season, Time, and Location 208
4 Factors of Elderly Suicide 209
4.1 Characteristics 209
4.1.1 Age 209
4.1.2 Marital Status 209
4.1.3 Gender 209
4.1.4 Health 210
4.1.5 Economic Situation 210
4.2 How and When 211
4.2.1 How 211
4.2.2 When 211
4.2.3 Where 212
4.3 Other Factors of Rural Elderly Suicide 212
4.3.1 Change in Rural Family Structure 213
More Empty Nests 213
Smaller Families 214
Lower Status in the Family 214
4.3.2 Rural Problems and the Rural-Urban Gap 215
Rural Problems 215
The “38-99-61” Phenomenon 216
4.3.3 Filial Piety Truncated 217
4.3.4 Deficient Rural Social Security System 218
4.3.5 Influence of Traditional Culture 222
Life and Death Are Predestined 222
Abandonment 223
4.3.6 Influence of a Sudden Negative Event 223
References 224
5 Suicide Prevention: Theories and Possibilities 226
1 Theories of Suicide Prevention 227
1.1 Durkheim’s View 227
1.2 Freud’s View 228
1.3 Chinese Scholars on Suicide Prevention 230
2 Conditions, Difficulties, and Approaches of Suicide Prevention 232
2.1 Current Conditions and Difficulties 232
2.2 The National Approach 236
2.3 Legal Basis of Suicide Prevention 238
3 Three Levels of Suicide Prevention 239
3.1 Primary Prevention: Change the Social Environment 239
3.1.1 Improve Social Security System and Create a Happy Environment 241
3.1.2 Educate People, Especially the Young and Teach Them to Respect Life 243
3.1.3 Strict Control Over Tools of Suicide 247
Strengthen Management of Poisonous Substance 247
Restrict Access to Controlled Substances 247
Restrict Access to Sites of Suicide 247
Restrict Access to Ammunition and Explosives 248
3.1.4 Encourage More Study of Suicide and Create Prevention Systems 248
3.1.5 Adopt Mental Health Legislation 249
3.1.6 Training 251
3.1.7 Check Media Reports to Avoid the Werther Effect 253
3.1.8 Suicide Prevention Targeted at High-Risk Groups 253
People with Mental Illness 253
Children from Single-Parent or Broken Families 254
Young Students 255
Disadvantaged Groups in Urban and Rural Areas 256
3.2 Secondary Prevention: Help People in Distress 257
3.2.1 Crisis Assessment 257
3.2.2 Timely Crisis Intervention 258
3.2.3 Creating a Social Support Network for the People in Distress 259
3.2.4 Timely Closing the Exit 260
3.3 Tertiary Prevention: Prevent Repeated Attempts 261
3.3.1 Post-crisis Intervention 261
3.3.2 Treatment 262
3.3.3 Evaluate Repeated Attempts’ Factors 262
4 From Isolated Suicide Prevention to Integrated Suicide Prevention 264
4.1 A Suicide Prevention Method to Cope with Social Tensions 264
4.2 The Current “Isolated Suicide Prevention” 264
4.3 From Isolated Suicide Prevention to Integrated Suicide Prevention 265
Epilogue 267
References 268
Uncited References 270