Suicide prevention should start at home, in every Hong Kong household

Research suggests about 60 per cent of Hong Kong suicides occur at home, with women, the widowed and those living alone at particular risk

Mobilising families, community resources, NGOs and the government is essential to creating a supportive environment for those who are struggling

3-MIN READ3-MIN

An elderly woman sits alone on a bench in Sha Tin on August 28, 2020. Living alone, being a woman and being widowed have all been identified as risk factors for at-home suicide. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:15am, 11 Nov 2021

Family is the core unit of every society, and it plays an especially important role in Chinese society. Family should be a place of safety and comfort.

However, many in Hong Kong are facing difficulties, including health issues among family members, financial disputes and divisions within the family, especially in low-income households. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these difficulties.

Suicides at home are common in Hong Kong. According to our recently published article in the journal Injury Prevention, about 60 per cent of suicide cases occur at home in the city. Given that there are about 900 deaths from suicide annually, that means more than 500 take place inside someone’s residence each year in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s rate of at-home suicide is similar to that in the United States and Canada but higher than in other places such as South Korea, where the rate is about 30 per cent. Among all suicide cases, we found that being female, living alone or being widowed were risk factors for at-home suicide.