SUICIDES rose in Singapore last year as the economy went into a
recession. A total of 401 people took their own lives, up from 364
in 2008.
In the latest statistics released on Monday by the Samaritans of
Singapore (SOS), a helpline dedicated to suicide prevention, the
rate of suicide went up from 8.76 per 100,000 residents in 2008 to
9.35 last year as Singapore battled its worst recession.
While suicide rates have been known to rise during bad times,
the SOS statistics are showing more worryingly, that suicide rates
among youths are on the rise as well.
The total number of suicides among those aged 10 to 19 years
reached a six-year high in 2009, with 19 youths taking their own
lives. This is a stark 58 per cent jump from a year earlier when 12
suicide cases among youths were reported.
Based on statistics from 1991 to now, there has been three clear
peaks in suicide rates among youths in Singapore, occuring in 1998,
2001 and 2009, all of which coincided with the economic
instability.
During the Asian financial crisis in 1998, youth suicides jumped
from 22 deaths from 14 the year before. Similarly, youth suicides
hit a record 27 deaths in 2001 during the economic downturn.
-- ST