Suicide warning signs were there, but 7 out of 10 went unrecognized

Nearly everyone who died by suicide showed warning signs beforehand, yet few people around them took these signs seriously, a report showed Wednesday.

A 2023 report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention reveals that while 96.6 percent of suicide victims exhibited suicide warning signs through unusual behavior, only 23.8 percent of their loved ones recognized these signals. The report analyzed victim records from 1,099 suicide cases and interviews with 1,262 bereaved family members and friends of victims from 2015 and 2023.

The most common suicide warning signs, as reported in the study, were emotional changes or mood swings (75.4 percent), followed by changes in sleep patterns (71.7 percent). Other notable signs included frequently talking about suicide and death (63.6 percent) and making self-deprecating remarks (47 percent).

The report reveals that 86 percent of those who took their own lives were believed to have been suffering from mental health issues, with depression believed to have been affecting most of them at 74.5 percent. Their average age was 44.2 years old. Nearly 65 percent of them were men.

Economic factors appear to have played a significant role in people's decisions to take their own lives. Almost half of the victims, 46.5 percent, had monthly incomes of less than 1 million won ($750).

Among the suicide cases involving one-person households, which made up 19.2 percent of the total deaths, 43.8 percent were under age 34, and 43.7 percent were irregular contract workers.

Suicide victims on average experienced 4.3 sources of stress. People younger than 34 were primarily stressed by unemployment, while those aged 35 to 49 were more concerned with financial problems. People between 50 and 64 faced high stress levels due to job loss, and those 65 and older struggled with maintaining relationships and deteriorating physical health.

The report underscores the profound impact of suicide on victims' family members as well.

Almost all -- 97.6 percent -- of the family members left behind reported experiencing changes in their own psychological and behavioral health, while 56.5 percent also reported changes to their physical health.

Over half of them, 56.3 percent, struggled with suicidal thoughts themselves. Yet, 72.7 percent of the bereaved family members were unable to tell others that their loved one had died by suicide.