Suicide in China: Difference between revisions
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Suicide in the People's Republic of China is unique<ref name="media chin.pdf" /> among countries of the world in that more women than men commit [[suicide]] each year: according to official government statistics, in 1999 the rate per 100,000 people was 13.0 for men and 14.8 for women,<ref name="media chin.pdf" /> the highest female suicide rate [[List of countries by suicide rate|in the world]]. According to official government statistics the male rate (13.0 per 100,000 men per year) is lower than in many other countries, including some [[Western countries]], such as the [[Suicide in the United States|United States]], [[Australia]] and [[Germany]]. |
Suicide in the People's Republic of China is unique<ref name="media chin.pdf" /> among countries of the world in that more women than men commit [[suicide]] each year: according to official government statistics, in 1999 the rate per 100,000 people was 13.0 for men and 14.8 for women,<ref name="media chin.pdf" /> the highest female suicide rate [[List of countries by suicide rate|in the world]]. According to official government statistics the male rate (13.0 per 100,000 men per year) is lower than in many other countries, including some [[Western countries]], such as the [[Suicide in the United States|United States]], [[Australia]] and [[Germany]]. |
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On the basis of a 2008 study, rather different conclusions are reached. female suicides outnumber male suicides by a 3:1 ratio; rural suicides outnumber urban suicides by a 3:1 ratio; a large upsurge of young adult and older adult suicides has occurred; a comparatively high national suicide rate two to three times the global average is evident; and a low rate of psychiatric illness, particularly [[clinical depression]], exists in suicide victims.<ref name="current_psychiatry"/> According to the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, there are over 300,000 suicides in China annually.<ref>{{citation|title=Suicide and Social Change in China|publisher=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry|doi=10.1023/A:1005462530658|author=Phillips, Michael R.|date=November 3, 2004|last2=Liu|first2=Huaqing|last3=Zhang|first3=Yanping|journal=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry|volume=23|pages=25–50}}</ref> |
On the basis of a 2008 study, rather different conclusions are reached. female suicides outnumber male suicides by a 3:1 ratio; rural suicides outnumber urban suicides by a 3:1 ratio; a large upsurge of young adult and older adult suicides has occurred; a comparatively high national suicide rate two to three times the global average is evident; and a low rate of psychiatric illness, particularly [[clinical depression]], exists in suicide victims.<ref name="current_psychiatry"/> According to the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, there are over 300,000 suicides in China annually.<ref>{{citation|title=Suicide and Social Change in China|publisher=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry|doi=10.1023/A:1005462530658|author=Phillips, Michael R.|date=November 3, 2004|last2=Liu|first2=Huaqing|last3=Zhang|first3=Yanping|journal=Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry|volume=23|pages=25–50}}</ref> <ref name=China's suicide rate 'among highest in world'>While government figures put the number at approximately 287,000 per year</ref>. China accounts for more than 30% of the world's suicides.<ref>{{citation|publisher=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|doi=10.1007/s00127-005-0952-8|title=Suicide rates in China during a decade of rapid social changes|year=2005|last1=Yip|first1=Paul S. F.|last2=Liu|first2=Ka Y.|last3=Hu|first3=Jianping|last4=Song|first4=X. M.|journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|volume=40|issue=10|pages=792–798|pmid=16205852}}</ref> The suicide rate in the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze Basin]] is about 40% higher than in the rest of China.<ref>{{citation|title=A suicide belt in China: The Yangtze Basin|author=He, Zhao-Xiong|doi=10.1023/A:1009609111621|publisher=Archives of Suicide Research|date=November 09, 2004|journal=Archives of Suicide Research|volume=4|issue=3|pages=287–289}}</ref> |
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==Working conditions and suicide== |
==Working conditions and suicide== |
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Revision as of 04:57, 11 January 2012
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2010) |
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Statistics on suicide in the People's Republic of China are somewhat controversial in that independent studies often produce estimates that are greatly at odds with official statistics provided by the country's government. On the basis of data gathered in 1999, the government estimated an overall rate of 13.9[1], much lower than in the total rate in other East Asian countries: Japan (24.4) and Korea (21.9). However, based on the same data source the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Centre estimated an average rate of 28.7[2], whilst the Global Burden of Disease study estimated an overall rate of 30.3[2]. Wide disagreement on statistics between the Chinese government and independent researchers is common on everything from traffic accident statistics to government military spending.
The most recent government data provides statistics more inline with external estimations. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, China's suicide rate is 22.23 people out of every 100,000Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).. This rate places the country among the countries with the highest suicide per capita in the world.
Suicide Demographics
Suicide in the People's Republic of China is unique[1] among countries of the world in that more women than men commit suicide each year: according to official government statistics, in 1999 the rate per 100,000 people was 13.0 for men and 14.8 for women,[1] the highest female suicide rate in the world. According to official government statistics the male rate (13.0 per 100,000 men per year) is lower than in many other countries, including some Western countries, such as the United States, Australia and Germany.
On the basis of a 2008 study, rather different conclusions are reached. female suicides outnumber male suicides by a 3:1 ratio; rural suicides outnumber urban suicides by a 3:1 ratio; a large upsurge of young adult and older adult suicides has occurred; a comparatively high national suicide rate two to three times the global average is evident; and a low rate of psychiatric illness, particularly clinical depression, exists in suicide victims.[2] According to the journal Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, there are over 300,000 suicides in China annually.[3] Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).. China accounts for more than 30% of the world's suicides.[4] The suicide rate in the Yangtze Basin is about 40% higher than in the rest of China.[5]
Working conditions and suicide
Working conditions in Chinese factories have been reported as a factor in suicides. In 2011, it was reported that "At least 14 workers at Foxconn factories in China have killed themselves in the last 16 months as a result of horrendous working conditions." [6]
Suicide in Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy sometimes influences suicide (simplified Chinese: 自杀; traditional Chinese: 自殺; pinyin: zì shā). Confucius wrote, "For gentlemen of purpose and men of ren while it is inconceivable that they should seek to stay alive at the expense of ren, it may happen that they have to accept death in order to have ren accomplished."[7] Mencius wrote:[8]
Fish is what I want; bear's palm is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take bear's palm than fish. Life is what I want; yi is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take yi than life. On the one hand, though life is what I want, there is something I want more than life. That is why I do not cling to life at all cost. On the other hand, though death is what I loathe, there is something I loathe more than death. That is why there are dangers I do not avoid . . . . Yet there are ways of remaining alive and ways of avoiding death to which a person will not resort. In other words, there are things a person wants more than life and there are also things he or she loathes more than death.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Suicide rates (per 100,000), by gender, China 1987-1999 World Health Organization
- ^ a b c Law, Samuel and Liu, Pozi (February, 2008), "Suicide in China: Unique demographic patterns and relationship to depressive disorder", Current Psychiatry Reports, 10 (1), Current Psychiatry Reports: 80–86, doi:10.1007/s11920-008-0014-5, PMID 18269899
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Phillips, Michael R.; Liu, Huaqing; Zhang, Yanping (November 3, 2004), "Suicide and Social Change in China", Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 23, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry: 25–50, doi:10.1023/A:1005462530658
- ^ Yip, Paul S. F.; Liu, Ka Y.; Hu, Jianping; Song, X. M. (2005), "Suicide rates in China during a decade of rapid social changes", Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 40 (10), Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology: 792–798, doi:10.1007/s00127-005-0952-8, PMID 16205852
- ^ He, Zhao-Xiong (November 09, 2004), "A suicide belt in China: The Yangtze Basin", Archives of Suicide Research, 4 (3), Archives of Suicide Research: 287–289, doi:10.1023/A:1009609111621
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Workers in Chinese Apple factories forced to sign pledges not to commit suicide
- ^ Analects, trans. D.C. Lau, second edition, (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1992), XV:9D
- ^ Mencius, trans. D.C. Lau, (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1984), VI A:10