Approach suicide stories gingerly

One of my frustrations living in China for three years was not being able to get accurate information. Sometimes the reason was badly worded surveys and other times suspicious research.

Recently, a news story, "Suicide among elderly increases" and an opinion article, "Cut suicide rate by aiding rural elderly", published by China Daily, caused me to scratch my head in wonder. The news story is based on the research of sociologist Liu Yanwu, of Wuhan University, who spent six years studying the issue of suicides by senior citizens in China.

Liu found that the suicide rate among the rural elderly has increased from 100 per 100,000 to 500 per 100,000 in two decades. That's an extraordinary and, frankly, unbelievable, increase, which Liu attributes to "poor quality of life". In his follow-up commentary, Liu writes that elderly people account for 80 percent of the suicides committed in rural areas. He also says that addressing senior citizens' problems is "a major task in the country's long-term battle to curb the rising suicide rate in the country".