The head of the first suicide prevention institution in China hanged himself.
Today is the fifth World Suicide Prevention Day. On this day, while we celebrate the festival for teachers, we also shift our perspective to those sad stories. Those who failed to tide over the difficulties and give up on themselves chose their own way of returning with special courage, but they also ended the colorful possibilities in the future, leaving endless sorrow for people around them.
Professional relationship, we have seen too many lives disappear abnormally all the year round. Reporting them is not about reporting death, but about paying attention to life. Similarly, we made this topic on this special day in the hope that everyone can be strong. Suffering is inevitable, but there is hope when you are alive.
The first institution came to an abrupt end, and the head of Guangzhou hanged himself, and the first suicide prevention institution in China ended its life.
In 1991, when the media published an interview with "Guangzhou Peiai Suicide Prevention Center", it was established in 1988. At that time, Chen Yunqing, the head of the only suicide prevention institution in China, said that he was determined to do this good deed to the end.
Nine years later, Chen Yunqing hanged himself at home.
Now, Pei ‘ai Suicide Prevention Center has been dissolved for many years, and the members of that year did not want to look back on this admirable cause. Since then, there has never been a professional suicide prevention institution in Guangzhou.
On January 3rd, 1988, Chen Yunqing initiated the establishment of the non-governmental Pei ‘ai Suicide Prevention Center, which was the first suicide prevention organization in China. It was not until July 1991 that the first professional suicide prevention institution was established in China? ? ? Nanjing Crisis Intervention Center.
"Pei ‘ai Suicide Prevention Center" had only 12 members when it was established in Guangzhou Yinhe Cemetery, but they set a lofty purpose in the Notice of Establishment: to carry forward love, cherish life and benefit others. Chen Yunqing believes that before committing suicide, there are many signs that can attract the attention of people around. If you intentionally or unintentionally reveal suicidal thoughts, you really want to talk to others. Most suicides can be avoided if acquaintances or relatives and friends can detect the intention of suicides in time and lend them a helping hand.
At that time, it was reported that, limited by conditions, people who asked for help mostly used letters. There were more than 1,500 letters for help from all over the country in Chen Yunqing’s office. Most of the writers had just experienced or were experiencing major setbacks, and some of them had attempted suicide once, twice or even more.
Pei Ai Center always replies to the writers in time, with sympathetic language to ease their sadness and some more acceptable life principles to dispel their suicidal thoughts. Many people can’t solve the problem with a letter of persuasion. They write many times, hoping to get repeated sympathy and persuasion, and finally they can dispel the idea of suicide.
A girl who was raped, a deaf-mute who was discriminated against, a young man who was in debt due to business failure, and a lover who was deeply affectionate but not accepted by his parents … Chen Yun Qinghe and their colleagues tried to persuade and help those who had suicidal motives and mental frustration.
For the "Pei Ai Suicide Prevention Center" at that time, all the staff were part-time, all of them volunteered to do this charity work in their spare time, and because of the lack of funds, they often felt overwhelmed by the rescue work. But their efforts are still praised by all walks of life.
To everyone’s surprise, nine years later, on September 7th, 1997, Chen Yunqing hanged himself at home. This guider who once helped many people walk through fragility did not walk out of his own fragility in the end.
Some experts analyzed that Chen Yunqing died of depression because his high demands and ideals of life were not satisfied; His monographs and novels on suicide have not been published.
Industry experts with low professional qualification threshold say that many psychological counselors are now employed after training for one or two months.
We have no intention to guess the cause of Chen Yunqing’s death, but it is unavoidable that this is a person who has made extraordinary contributions to suicide prevention, and his colleagues still feel regret and sorrow when they mention it. After him, Pei Ai Suicide Prevention Center was dissolved.
The staff of Beijing Psychological Crisis Research and Intervention Center said that there are 19 domestic suicide intervention institutions registered at present, among which there is no professional intervention institution in Guangzhou.
Zhan Chunyun, director of Corning psychological counseling hotline who has been engaged in psychological professional research for 14 years, said that according to the hotline in 2002? According to the data analysis of nearly 200,000 visitors in 2007, 36% had suicidal thoughts, 12% had attempted suicide, and 50% committed suicide because of marriage and family crisis. If we can solve the marriage problem well, it means that suicide can be reduced by half. "If you want to commit suicide for this reason, it is easier to solve it if you get effective intervention from psychologists." Zhan Chunyun said, but at present, there are not many people who specialize in marriage in the psychological counseling industry.
In addition, the research data of Corning Psychological Counseling Center show that the ratio of suicide and attempted suicide among rural women in China is high at present, and 58% of suicide deaths and 27% of attempted suicides commit suicide by taking pesticides or rodenticides. However, due to the problem of poison management and the low level of first aid in rural areas, this problem has not been solved.
As for the comparison of suicide prevention between foreign countries and domestic countries, Zhan Chunyun said that domestic countries are passive and foreign countries are active. Suicide prevention institutions in developed countries, if they find anyone who wants to commit suicide, will send special personnel to track the attempted suicide from beginning to end, and will not allow such people to leave the country. At present, the relevant institutions in China are basically paid, which is equivalent to the nature of hospital treatment, so they are passive.
At present, some current situations in domestic psychological counseling and suicide prevention institutions include: the threshold is too low, anyone can take the psychological counselor exam twice a year after several weeks of training, and the exam is not difficult to pass. "Everyone can take the exam after graduating from primary school."
At the same time, most counselors have no medical background. Director Zhan said that if experts do not understand internal medicine, psychiatry and neurology, and do not understand interdisciplinary knowledge, they may even lead to misdiagnosis. The current situation is that most psychological counselors have no medical background at all.
In addition, suicide intervention requires years of accumulated experience. Dr. Zhan said that since he became a neurologist, he has been quite familiar with all kinds of interdisciplinary knowledge and various cases. Nowadays, many so-called psychological counselors can take up their posts after taking a certificate in a month or two.
According to the data of Suicide Situation and Countermeasures in China released by Beijing Psychological Crisis Research and Intervention Center in early 2007, suicide is the fifth cause of death in China, accounting for 15? The leading cause of death in the 34-year-old population. Every year, 287,000 people in China die of suicide; 2 million people attempted suicide. Of these people, only 9% have seen a doctor in a psychiatric department.
■ Data analysis
Eighty percent of suicides suffer from depression.
Experts say that the pressure of life is the first killer of urban people.
Who are the high-risk groups for suicide? Shen Jiahong, director of the psychology department of Guangzhou Baiyun Psychological Hospital, pointed out that stress is the first killer of urban life, and people with excessive daily stress are high-risk groups of suicide. "In the suicide crowd, 70%? 80% people have different levels of depression. " If we can find out the potential tendency of depression early, we can avoid more people taking extreme suicidal behavior.
[Urban students] The main reason is poverty and lovelorn.
"In fact, the proportion of college students committing suicide in cities is not so obvious." Director Shen pointed out that although college students committed suicide by jumping off a building from time to time, in fact, college students committed suicide in cities is not so obvious. Director Shen pointed out that college students who choose to commit suicide are generally due to excessive pressure. "Poor college students, lovelorn college students, and some college students with bad behavior, indulging in the internet all day, taking drugs, having sex, etc., are the main factors leading to suicide."
At the same time, among the students in the city, more and more junior and senior high school students choose to commit suicide because of the heavy pressure of study. "Especially those students who are facing the pressure of further education", Director Shen said that students are young, not mature in all aspects of their thoughts, and have not formed a certain psychological self-control. Once they feel overburdened, they will easily choose a path of suicide. At this time, parents and teachers need to encourage and affirm, so that students can get out of the heavy shadow of learning as soon as possible.
[Top white-collar workers] Occupational stress is too high
Director Shen said that suicides have strong self-aggression, which generally comes from daily life pressure. Different from rural areas, the social environment in cities is more complicated, and people are under greater interpersonal pressure, so the suicide characteristics of urban people are different. "People who are in the extreme position of the city are more likely to fall into suicidal behavior."
"High-level white-collar workers are under great pressure." Director Shen pointed out in particular that in cities of China, because of fierce competition, the higher the level of white-collar workers, the greater the occupational pressure. Therefore, in the suicide rate of cities, high-skilled white-collar workers account for a large proportion.
He believes that the poor people at the bottom of the city are also one of the high-risk groups of urban suicide. People at the bottom of the city often bear unimaginable life pressure because of economic poverty and heavy life pressure, coupled with the complex social environment of the city, which is also easy to cause them to choose suicide as an extreme escape way.
[Depressed patients] Pay attention to the intervention of relatives and friends.
"In the suicide crowd, 70%? 80% people have different levels of depression. " Shen Jiahong pointed out that psychological disorder is a risk factor for suicide. If we can find out the potential tendency of depression early, we can avoid more people taking extreme suicidal behavior.
Many suicides have obvious symptoms and signs of pre-depression, but they are easily ignored by patients’ families, colleagues and companions, for example, some of their daily code words or actions are not further understood. Director Shen pointed out that people with potential depression have the following characteristics: 1. They are autistic and unwilling to deal with others; 2. I doubt my ability and always think that I am not as good as others; 3, lose interest in the surrounding things; 4, I am not happy every day, and I am sad all day; 5. Low self-evaluation; 6, poor sleep, often sleepless all night. Once an individual suffers from mental illness, he should be treated in time.
At the same time, Director Shen also pointed out that in case of unexpected events, individuals should also pay attention to establishing psychological crisis intervention to relieve themselves and reduce suicidal tendencies. The society should also create a harmonious social environment for people, and enhance people’s mental health knowledge by guiding learning and publicity.
Why did they give up their lives?
The suicide note of a 14-year-old boy
◎ Event: After being criticized, the junior one students threw themselves into the river and said goodbye to their friends before they died.
Crux: Teenagers are more likely to imitate suicide, and their experience and understanding of suicide mostly come from TV dramas.
In the exquisite diary rewarded by parents, the first diary written by He Weiying, a 14-year-old junior one boy, was a suicide note of less than 200 words.
At 6: 30 pm on April 25 this year, He Yuying, a boy from Class 2, Grade 1, Licheng No.2 Middle School, Zengcheng, disappeared after going out from home. When looking for clues, his parents inadvertently turned over his suicide note. Three days later, in the morning, He Weiying appeared on the surface of the river that must pass from home to school.
The family doesn’t understand why a boy with harmonious family, excellent grades and cheerful personality suddenly chose to end his life. Afterwards, they learned that He Weiying was criticized by the teacher in class, and the suicide note was full of self-blame and grievance.
It was later confirmed that the last acquaintance He Weiying saw before jumping into the river was his classmate and good friend Yao. When Yao relayed the last conversation between He Weiying and him, everyone was surprised to find that He Weiying had made up his mind to die. "Old friend, send you, I don’t need it." This 14-year-old boy said this when he took out all his cash of more than 20 yuan and handed it to his close friend who happened to meet before he died. Regrettably, the best friend failed to notice his despair and took it as a joke.
He Weiying has always been in the top three in the class and served as a study Committee member. He Fu mentioned that his son has been going smoothly, and there are few setbacks in his life. He is very strong and can’t stand failure.
He Weiying wrote in the suicide note: "In fact, I have worked hard to study, but the teacher said that I am not serious … I am very hard. I am very sad to leave you … "
Research by the International Association for Suicide Prevention shows that under all social conditions, the suicide of children (under 15 years old) is rare, accounting for less than 2% of all suicides. But children’s experience and understanding of suicide mostly come from TV and discussions with other children, so they don’t fully understand the meaning of death.
The effective measures for this group are to reduce children’s unfortunate life events by giving play to the role of public health policy, and to support the prevention plan based on school education to improve children’s social ability, coping skills and problem-solving ability. In addition, how schools, organizations and society deal with the consequences of suicide may have an impact on suicide prevention.
It should be noted that teenagers are more likely to imitate suicide, and funerals or commemorative activities that praise suicide will encourage teenagers to imitate suicide.
Graduate students fall on the eve of graduation.
◎ Event: The girl decided to cut her wrist in the dormitory because her feelings were not supported.
◎ Crux: Failure in starting a business, emotional frustration and unsatisfactory studies are the reasons for the relatively concentrated suicide of college students.
I will graduate in a few months. At 11 o’clock on the evening of February 26, 2006, on the seventh day of school, the female graduate student of Guangzhou University jumped from the ninth floor of the dormitory building and died. Everyone who knew her said that the deceased had a good face and a cheerful personality, and took an active part in activities such as traveling, singing and dancing.
But the way she died was shocking. An insider confirmed that the girl first cut her wrist in the dormitory, then went from the dormitory on the 4 th floor to the rooftop on the 9 th floor of the dormitory and jumped off it.
The reason why this girl in the mood for love is so determined is that her six-year relationship with her boyfriend can’t be supported by her parents, and the pressure of graduation thesis and the unsatisfactory results of civil service examinations have made her choose to wither.
Another vivid example is Deng Guowang, an active senior boy who is bent on seizing business opportunities. However, because of the private seal of the company, he was considered guilty of fraud by the industrial and commercial department and was also claimed 36,000 yuan. Frustrated, he jumped from the upstairs, only to kill a sophomore girl.
Young entrepreneurial failure, emotional frustration, and unsatisfactory studies are the relatively concentrated causes of suicide among college students. They are at the borderline between school and society, and they are not ready to meet the challenge, but all kinds of pressures have come one after another.
According to the research, youth suicide is an important public health problem, among which college students are an important group. For these young people, experts believe that professionals should take the initiative to contact them and encourage them to seek help. Schools and universities are considered as important places to prevent young people from committing suicide. At this time, the best way is to let the trained teachers and consultants make psychological counseling in time.
Unemployed man tried to die three times
◎ Events: illness, divorce, unemployment, unbearable burden of life, Gao Lehua bent on death.
◎ Crux: Nearly half of suicides occurred in men aged 25 to 60.
On the morning of May 30, 47-year-old Gao Lehua jumped from an aerial garden on the seventh floor of Dade Road Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and blood was splashed on the spot.
Illness, divorce, unemployment. Gao Lehua embodies almost all the characteristics of the urban poor. Without any skills, he was unbearable and committed suicide three times. After the incident, his old mother, brother and sister rushed to the scene with sad faces, but they also said, "He will not suffer when he dies."
Gao Lehua only went to high school, had no special skills and had no fixed job for many years. In 2004, he checked out lumbar disc herniation in the hospital and borrowed tens of thousands of yuan to see a doctor. The operation effect was not satisfactory. He is unemployed at home, living on his old mother’s pension, and can’t see the day when he will pay off his debts. Gao Lehua got married at the age of 42. Two years later, when he was about to be pushed into the operating room, he received his wife’s divorce agreement.
On the morning of his last suicide, Gao Lehua went to Guangdong Minimally Invasive Hospital, and the doctor said that he could have an operation to relieve his pain as long as 15,000 yuan. However, when he hoped to get help from the neighborhood Committee with the diagnosis and treatment certificate, he was told that he did not meet the conditions for assistance.
This cut off his last glimmer of hope.
According to the research of the International Suicide Prevention Association, suicide is an important cause of death for adults. In many countries, almost half of suicide deaths occur in men aged between 25 and 60. Mental health problems, difficult living environment and stressful life events have great influence on adult suicide behavior. The workplace is an important place for adults to prevent suicide. But at present, there is little investment in workplace-based suicide prevention activities. Restricting access to lethal suicide tools such as firearms, pesticides, automobile exhaust, excessive lethal drugs, and increasing protective measures in places where suicides often occur can reduce the occurrence of suicide deaths, especially impulsive suicides.
98-year-old man jumps off a building before his birthday.
◎ Event: The old lady is in poor health and worried about dragging her children to commit suicide.
Crux: The aging problem has gradually increased the number of elderly people who commit suicide.
On July 11th, a 98-year-old woman jumped from the 7th floor of Zhuxi West Street in Yuexiu District and died on the spot. Her children had just taken her back from Hongkong, and her Bai Shou (99th birthday) ceremony was being prepared. She had no worries about food and clothing, and her children were filial. The old man’s choice was really puzzling. Some people say that the old lady chose to commit suicide because she was in poor health and was afraid of dragging down her children in her later years.
There is also an 83-year-old man in Liwan District who has no children. After her husband died, she spent 24 years alone in a dark hut. She seldom talks to her neighbors, because the topic of everyone’s conversation is how promising her children are, which makes her uncomfortable. She refused to accept other people’s help and hobbled upstairs and downstairs to buy a box lunch for herself, eating only two meals a day. Finally, she jumped from the fourth floor on a rainy day and died after being sent to hospital.
For the elderly, perhaps the most comforting thing is that their children and grandchildren are full and share their family. But around us, there are many such lonely old people. They either have no children, or their children are unfilial, or their children are wholeheartedly pursuing their careers, and they are not given the care they deserve.
Research shows that in many countries, the suicide rate of the elderly is the highest, especially those over 85 years old. With the aging process, the number of elderly people with physical diseases and dysfunction increases, and the number of suicides will also increase.
Old people are more likely to die when they commit suicide. They tend to choose a more lethal suicide mode, showing a stronger suicide motivation, and they will carefully plan and implement suicide.
In this regard, it is worth promoting measures to improve the level of medical security, let the elderly have more social contacts and participate in some activities according to their interests. The "Peace Bell" campaign being promoted by the Guangzhou Municipal Government aims to give elderly people living alone a channel to seek help.
Some suicide intervention institutions and psychological hotlines
Guangzhou Baiyun Psychiatric Rehabilitation Hospital (psychological consultation 020-37385890)
Beijing huilongguan hospital Beijing Psychological Crisis Research and Intervention Center (www.crisis.org.cn, toll-free hotline: 800-8101117)
China Renmin University Psychological Consultation Research Center (www.bnu.edu.cn/xlzxzx/bj.htm010-62511689)
Psychological Counseling Center of Beijing Normal University (010-58808136, 010-58800764)
Wuhan University Student Mental Health Education and Research Center (027-87436623)
Chongqing Jung Psychological and Career Development Consulting Office (www.rgzx.com023-88601980)
Thematic Coordination: Our reporter Chen Liangjun Zhong Yuedong
Special Writing: Our reporter Zhong Yuedong Chen Liangjun Zhang Yanfen Yan Yan Zhou Wenfeng Fang Shuyang Chen Yongjin Yu Yang Intern Xie Shang
Thematic Photography: Our reporter Liu Ke Ryker Chan
Editor: Fan Jing
Beijing News Cartography/Xu Wei
