In the Past 5 Years, the Proportion of Suicide Deaths in Single-Person Households Increased... 1 in 2 Had a History of Mental Illness

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Although the number of deaths by suicide has decreased over the past five years (2013?2017), the proportion of single-person households among total suicide deaths has been increasing annually. Additionally, it was found that one out of every two suicide victims had a history of mental illness.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Life Respect and Hope Foundation announced on the 29th that they have published the "Five-Year National Suicide Death Analysis Report" containing these findings.

This report is based on police investigation records of unnatural deaths and data from the National Health Insurance Service from 2013 to 2017, surveying a total of 64,124 suicide victims over five years.

According to the report, the number of suicide deaths gradually decreased from 13,851 in 2013 to 13,154 in 2014, 12,955 in 2015, 12,474 in 2016, and 11,690 in 2017. However, cases reported as deaths without police investigation requests were not included in this suicide death count.

The suicide death rate averaged 25.2 per 100,000 population annually. The rate also gradually declined from 27.4 per 100,000 in 2013 to 25.9 in 2014, 25.4 in 2015, 24.4 in 2016, and 22.8 in 2017.

By gender, males averaged 9,029 deaths annually over five years, which was 2.4 times higher than females at 3,796.

By age group, the middle-aged group of 50?64 years accounted for the highest proportion at 28.1%, followed by the 35?49 years group at 27.7%, and seniors aged 65 and above at 27.0%. The suicide death rate per 100,000 population was highest among seniors (51.4), followed by middle-aged adults (32.4), the 35?49 age group (27.7), and young adults aged 19?34 (18.1).

By household type, the average number of suicide deaths over five years was 67.5% in households with two or more people, 28.0% in single-person households, and 3.5% unknown. The proportion of single-person households increased annually from 27.0% in 2013 to 28.8% in 2014, 29.2% in 2015, 30.0% in 2016, and 30.1% in 2017.

The main causes of suicide were mental health problems (23,150 cases, 36.1%), economic problems (12,504 cases, 19.5%), and physical health problems (11,159 cases, 17.4%), in that order.

Among suicide victims from 2013 to 2017, 56.2% had a history of mental illness. The average suicide death rate among people with mental illness was 215.5 per 100,000, which is 8.6 times higher than the overall population suicide death rate of 25.2 per 100,000.

Among mental illness histories, depressive disorder was the most common (22.3%), followed by sleep disorders (20.1%) and anxiety disorders (15.8%).

The proportion of suicide victims with a history of chronic physical illness was 81.6%, and the suicide death rate among those with chronic physical illnesses was 66.1 per 100,000, 2.6 times higher than the overall population rate (25.2).

Among these, deaths by suicide with neurological diseases accounted for the highest proportion (18.6%), followed by arthritis (17.2%) and hypertension (13.3%).

Yeom Min-seop, Director of Mental Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "This analysis report confirms that socioeconomic status and underlying diseases influence suicide. We will strive proactively for suicide prevention through cooperation with various related ministries and organizations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.