” Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress.”
[May.03.2023] Recently, while three teenagers in Gangnam, Seoul made extreme choices one after the other, it is revealed that suicide-related counselling provided by local youth counselling centres has increased by 77% over the past five years. Even after social distancing, which harmed adolescents’ mental health, was lifted last year, suicide counselling increased by 13% from the previous year.
According to the statistics produced by the Korea Youth Counselling and Welfare Development Institute on the 29th, the number of suicide and self-harm-related counselling and support services provided by 240 regional centres nationwide last year was 125,797. This is a 76.6% increase from 2018 (71,214 cases).
In 2021, when the sense of isolation among adolescents intensified due to Covid 19 induced social distancing, counselling cases jumped 32.3% (111,649 cases) from 2019 (84,368 cases). Even in 2022, when social distancing was eased and normal life patterns returned, counselling cases increased by 12.6%.
Regarding this, an official from the Youth Counselling and Welfare Development Centre said, “Negative emotions due to continued social distancing for three years accumulated and impacted the youth generation even more in 2022.” “The total number of young people is decreasing, but the number of at-risk youths is constantly increasing”, she added.
The total youth counselling statistics, including suicidal and self-harm, friendship, academic, and family problems, increased to 2,981,459 cases in 2018 and 3,279,408 cases in 2019, then decreased to 2,713,713 cases in 2020. After that, it rebounded to 3,283,400 cases in 2021 and increased significantly to 4,104,219 cases in 2022. Compared to 2018, this is an increase of 37.6%.
High-risk adolescents who have thoughts of suicide or self-harm can receive counselling at intensive psychological clinics at 240 local youth counselling and welfare centres starting this year. From the second half of this year, clinical psychologists will be assigned to local counselling centres to provide comprehensive psychological evaluations. In the past, as the comprehensive psychological evaluation was carried out by external professional agencies, the process was time-consuming and costly. (Source: Yonhap News Agency).
Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children, it will be a refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:26-27)
God, have mercy on the young generation in Korea, who are increasingly seeking to counsel for suicidal thoughts related due to depression and mental anguish. May You destroy Satan’s device of locking the youth of this land in the net of death and turning them against the Lord, the master of life. May they hear the gospel so that they can know the value of life created by the Lord. May You be a refuge for those who fear You and let them discover the truth and reason to live and become youth who give the Lord glory due to him.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
