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'Suicide Manual' exerts power of amplified voices
(Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2005-04-12 15:04
Since the end of February, many QQ users in China have received an unexpected
message immediately after opening the software - a "Complete Suicide Manual".
The manual - written in a humorous tone - lists over 10 ways of committing
suicides, with a rating system that details the difficulty of each method, the
condition of the body based on each method, and the rate of success for each.
The message has been widely spread among netizens and has proved of special
interest to younger people.
A national newspaper expressed concern about the message, which eventually
led to a ban on spreading such information, imposed by the Chinese Ministry of
Public Health.
On March 30, police officials told the China Youth Daily during an interview
that a person who spreads a harmful message which results in a crime would be
punished.
Anyone violating public security management rules and Internet management
rules, by disseminating information about suicide methods for instance, would be
investigated and prosecuted.
Previous reports said suicide websites and manuals had been found on the
Internet in China since 2002.
But on April 1, Shanghai Star reporters searched Google for information about
suicide and found that most entries were news items about the ministry's action.
However, the manual was found on some BBS and blogs. And on some BBS, when a
person raised the topic, "Want to end this boring and hopeless life?", several
people replied with suggestions on how to do it.
Fatal influence
Although legal experts disagree on whether spreading such messages is a
crime, psychologists and educators are worried that it could trigger suicides
among high-risk groups, especially teenagers who are more vulnerable to
suggestion.
"Committing suicide requires a huge amount of courage. But once such deaths
are discussed in a light or mocking tone, the terror is reduced for those with
suicidal thoughts," said middle school mental health consultant Zhang Lili in
Beijing, who added that this could lure teenagers to commit suicide.
Psychiatrists said that reading such information could negatively influence
people's subconsciousness and even lead to extreme actions. They are also
worried that the Internet could accelerate the suicide trend because several
group suicides organized through the Internet have been reported in Japan and
Taiwan Province.
Such concerns are supported by a survey conducted by the Teenage Research
Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences on teenagers' (ages 9-18)
choice of media in 2004. The result showed that a quarter of the 2,830 local
teenagers queried chose the computer as their favourite media source and 24.4
per cent favoured getting information and news through the Internet.
Group suicide has not been reported on the Chinese mainland but several cases
of students killing themselves by following suggestions on suicide websites have
been reported.
"The Internet has spread mass information. Management and regulations are
insufficient. Against a background of globalization and with easy access to the
Internet and other media, such negative information can spread easily among
Chinese teenagers. It will probably trigger group suicides among Chinese
teenagers eventually," said Professor Sang Biao, director of the Psychology
Department of East China Normal University.
Besides stricter management of this kind of negative information, Sang
suggests that Internet surfers cultivate their ability to distinguish and choose
proper and useful information instead of being misled by negative information.
Helping hand
The wide dissemination of suicide information is "the tip of iceberg" -
reflecting people's mental situation and experts say a social support system
needs to be built to help those with suicidal tendencies (most of whom suffering
from mental problems such as depression).
However, this social problem, combining great economic loss with emotional
pain for surviving relatives, hasn't gained enough attention from either the
public or the government.
Several cities including Beijing, Nanjing and Hangzhou have organizations to
help suicidal people. In 2004, a group of local doctors, university teachers and
consultants established the city's first Mental Crisis Intervention Centre in
Pudong Gongli Hospital, providing free professional mental consultant for those
in need.
"Since April 2004, we have accepted 70 attempted suicides and helped over 100
people in mental crisis," said Dr Shan Huaihai of the hospital's Department of
Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, one of the initiators of the centre.
"In one case, a young women attempted to cut her wrists after losing her job.
She has now successfully overcome the mental crisis after intervention by mental
consultants."
But the centre is in great need of financial support. "We have communicated
with the Shanghai Municipal Government several times and handed them a proposal
on April 1. The government has come to consider the problem," said Shan.
In addition, educators suggest teenagers should be taught to cherish and
respect their lives, because in traditional Chinese culture, the individual is
encouraged to sacrifice life for the benefit of the family, the group or the
nation.
Shanghai Mental Crisis Intervention Centre
Hotline: 5885-8730 ext 5244 
Service hour: 8:30 am-11:30 am,
1:30 pm-5:30 pm
Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and Saturday.
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