Hong Kong’s Coroner’s Court handled a record of nearly 1,100 suicide cases last year, the highest in 16 years, prompting a major help group to call for more social support for younger people.
Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong said on Saturday that 1,092 suicides were reported in 2023, the highest since 2006, and 12 cases higher than the previous year. About 52 per cent, or 573, involved people aged between 20 to 59.
The remaining cases comprised 43 involving individuals aged 19 or younger, 473 aged 60 or above, and three cases with their ages unknown.
Samaritan Befrienders executive director Clarence Tsang Chin-kwok said the increase in suicides might be related to the economic and social environment.
“Hong Kong’s economic environment is in a state of a downturn, which might put pressure on people to strive harder to support their livelihoods,” he said.
More than half, 571 cases of the 1,092 suicides cases, last year involved people falling to their deaths.
Tsang urged schools to keep an eye on young people and their emotional needs.
To better connect with young people, the group has launched “Chatpoint Youth Crisis Angel Training Program”, which aims to provide continuous emotional support to those in need through online chat rooms.
Cheung Nga Man, a student from Polytechnic University’s faculty of social work, had done an internship with the group and said the experience equipped her with the skills to handle crises.
“One particularly memorable case involved an individual who shared with me upfront that she wanted to commit suicide.” Cheung said. “This shocked me and I tried my very best to counsel her and have a dialogue with her.”
She added the experience helped prepare herself as a social worker in the future.
Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, founding director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), said unemployment and economic conditions in the city might have contributed to the rise in the number of people taking their own life.
“The economic issue affected the middle aged most. While the health problems of the elderly are usually regarded as the major reasons for them to commit suicide,” Yip said, adding that both the mental and physical health of older residents should be a priority.
The emigration wave might have also increased the chances of elderly people suffering from loneliness as they might have lost carers, he said.
Yip called for attention to be paid to the elderly and more emphasis placed on building a healthy society.
“We normally put most of our energy and resources into those with suicidal thoughts instead of preventing people from being ill,” he added.
Paul Wong Wai-ching, associate professor of HKU’s department of social work and social administration, said the number of suicides was expected to remain high for a period of time, given the economic and political situation.
“It is expected that a sharp decrease in the number of suicide cases might not be happening next year,” Wong said.
A total of 168 students with mental distress were referred to public psychiatry clinics through the three-tier school-based emergency mechanism between the start of December last year and March, the Education Bureau revealed earlier this month. Seventy-five inquiries from principals had also been received through a designated hotline.
But only 3 per cent of the cases were categorised as urgent. Forty per cent were semi-urgent, while the rest were stable or already receiving psychiatric care.
The mechanism includes identifying at-risk students, providing external support from NGOs for schools with limited resources and prioritising severe cases through public psychiatric referrals.
The implementation of the scheme was extended from January until the end of this year.
