Women More Likely to Commit Suicide: Study

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 04, 2002

Women More Likely to Commit Suicide: Study

A medical research team in Beijing has found that the suicide rate among Chinese women is 25 percent higher than that of men. The study found that females living in rural areas were three times more likely to commit suicide when faced with unresolved problems.

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A medical research team in Beijing has found that the suicide rate among Chinese women is 25 percent higher than that of men.

This is in sharp contrast with the situation in western countries, where the male suicide rate is 3.6 times higher than that of women, said Li Xianyun, a doctor with the research team in Beijing's Huilongguan Hospital, as saying.

The study found that females living in rural areas were three times more likely to commit suicide when faced with unresolved problems.

The team began the suicide-related studies in 1995, and now provides background for government policy-making.

Suicide, a leading cause for death among young people

Scientists examined the causes of death in 20 cities across the country, and found that suicide has developed into the leading cause of death among people between 15 and 34 years of age.

The phenomenon was especially severe in China's vast rural areas where people have less outlets and often seek extreme ways to express their desperation, Li said.

Though the situation is better in urban areas, increasing competition in modern society has also driven many vulnerable women to take their own lives as a way to escape tough problems.

The central government has been notified of the situation and a large-scale epidemic research center will be established this summer based on Li's hospital to provide more detailed suggestion on suicide-prevention measures.

Li suggested enhanced control of poisonous pesticides to fight suicide in rural areas, but stressed that the most effective approach in suicide prevention is to improve public awareness of mental health.

250,000 Chinese Kill Themselves Annually: Official

At least two million Chinese try to kill themselves each year and about 250,000 of them succeed, making suicide a serious social issue in the world's most populous nation, according to mental health experts.

Figures disclosed here Tuesday confirm an early estimation by China's Ministry of Health that about 22 people out of every 100,000 people across the country commit suicide annually.

The suicide rate in China is above the level in the United States, Canada, and Britain, but lower than the rate in some eastern European nations such as Hungary and Lithuania, where the ratio stands between 40 and 50 suicide cases per 100,000 people, said Professor Zhai Shutao, a Chinese researcher on suicide.

In spite of the Confucian teaching deeply rooted among Chinese that one's body given by his or her parents should never be hurt, a growing number of the people in China have chosen to take their own lives in the 20th century, Zhai said. However, scientific research has only been made in recent decades.

It found that rural people and females run a higher risk of suicide than urban residents and males, and the suicide rates of young and old people are particularly high.

Zhai said the reasons why humans commit suicide are complicated. For example, some are too fragile to bear setbacks or grief. And some hurt themselves due to mental disorders. In detail

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250,000 Chinese Kill Themselves Annually: Official