A life line in Yanghwa Bridge (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – According to a recent study, the number of emergency room visits related to self-harm or disengagement from the world has increased by 1.8 times in the past decade. This rise has been particularly pronounced among teenagers, highlighting the need for improved mental health care for the younger generation.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) published its “Statistics on Types and Causes of Injury 2022,” which surveyed patients who sought treatment in emergency rooms for injuries. In the latest survey, conducted by 23 medical institutions (compared to 20 in 2012) out of a total of 450 medical institutions with emergency rooms, a total of 193,384 injury patients were included.
The number of patients engaging in self-harm and suicide attempts among injury cases increased by a significant 82.6 percent, from 5,375 in 2012 to 8,813 in the last year. This increase remains substantial even when accounting for the greater participation of healthcare facilities in the survey during the last year.
The surge was most striking among teenagers and individuals in their twenties. Teenage cases increased by 190.4 percent, rising from 615 to 1,786, while those in their twenties experienced a 163.6 percent increase, going from 1,041 to 2,744. This equates to a 2.9-fold and 2.6-fold increase over the course of a decade, respectively.
The overall proportion of self-harm and suicide attempts among teenagers and individuals in their twenties increased by 15.4 percentage points, moving from 30.8 percent in 2012 to 46.2 percent in the last year.
Conflicts with family members and friends were the most commonly cited reasons for self-harm and suicide attempts, accounting for 27.9 percent of cases in 2012, while psychiatric problems were responsible for 44.1 percent of such incidents in 2022.
Out of the total number of individuals injured last year, 15.9 percent (37,788 individuals) required hospitalization, and 1.4 percent (2,613 individuals) tragically lost their lives.
The gender distribution showed a higher number of males (57.5 percent) compared to females (42.5 percent), with the largest age group affected being those aged 0-9 years, making up 18.6 percent of the cases. Falls were the most common type of injury (36.8 percent), followed by bumps (19.5 percent), and transportation accidents (13.5 percent).
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
