"Bereaved Families Must Actively Engage to Raise Social Awareness" [Rebuilding Mind Investment③]

Focusing on High-Risk Groups and the Importance of Post-Management
Interview with Eunjin Lee, Chairperson of External Cooperation, Korea Suicide Prevention Association

"There is a case in Japan where suicide bereaved families actively raised social awareness through their activities. In our country, it is also necessary for the affected individuals to take the lead and raise their voices."

Promotional material for the National Mind Investment Project.
Photo by Ministry of Health and Welfare

Professor Eunjin Lee of the Graduate School of Social Welfare at Suwon University (Chairperson of External Cooperation for the Korea Suicide Prevention Association) said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 12th, "This year, the Korea Suicide Bereaved Families Association was established, and we need to actively support suicide bereaved family organizations to create opportunities for various activities," adding, "The government must take an active interest and provide human and material support."

She suggested that while the National Mind Investment Project has positive aspects, policy supplementation is necessary. Professor Lee said, "The Mind Investment Project has lowered the threshold for mental counseling for the public. However, those in high suicide risk groups or in welfare blind spots who need active counseling services hardly use it because they have to visit mental health welfare centers or community centers themselves to apply," and added, "Psychological counseling alone has limitations in resolving mental illnesses such as depression. The effectiveness needs to be examined in the long term."

She pointed out that fundamentally, to reduce the suicide rate, focus should be on high-risk groups. Professor Lee said, "The Mind Investment Project provides direct counseling benefits to people experiencing psychological difficulties to help them maintain a stable life, but it is not an evidence-based project that directly affects suicide rate reduction," and emphasized, "Investment in managing suicide attempters and supporting suicide bereaved families, that is, high-risk groups, should be expanded."

She stressed that post-management for high-risk groups experiencing emotional difficulties such as depression and anxiety is essential. Professor Lee said, "Functions to connect with psychiatric departments, mental health welfare centers, suicide prevention centers, etc., should be strengthened to provide continuous support for high-risk suicide groups," and added, "The Mind Investment Project does not reflect the contents of the 5th Basic Suicide Prevention Plan, such as linkage for mental and suicide high-risk groups, so supplementation is needed."

Eunjin Lee, Professor at the Graduate School of Social Welfare, Suwon University. Korea Suicide Prevention Association

She viewed that outreach counseling services are effective for the elderly. Professor Lee said, "In the case of the elderly, there is a lack of awareness to resolve psychological problems through psychological counseling, so voluntary counseling applications are inevitably fewer compared to other age groups," and added, "They mainly use social welfare institutions or mental medical institutions, so existing mental health and welfare infrastructure should be strengthened."

She expressed that improving awareness and expanding education on suicide prevention are most important. Professor Lee said, "When someone feels so distressed that they want to die, society should be one where they can express their feelings. Anyone can think about suicide, and we need to know how to help them," and added, "Just as it is said that it takes a whole village to raise a child, all citizens must work together for suicide prevention in our country. Suicide prevention activities and awareness improvement education should be actively implemented using village-level networks, encompassing both public and private sectors, and high-risk suicide groups should be identified and intervened early."

※ If you have difficult feelings such as depression or if you have family or acquaintances experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling through the Suicide Prevention Counseling Hotline ☎109 or the Suicide Prevention SNS Counseling "Madeullan".