TAIPEI: Nearly 40 percent of Taiwan's young people have no goals in life and over 60 percent of them have thought of committing suicide, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.

According to a survey of students aged between 15 and 22 on life education conducted recently by CommonWealth magazine, 3.6 percent of the respondents said they often feel suicidal, while 19.6 percent said they feel suicidal occasionally and 38.7 percent said they had at some point contemplated committing suicide.

The magazine quoted Wang Hao-wei, a psychiatrist at National Taiwan University Hospital, as saying that many of today's youths in Taiwan have suicidal thoughts as a result of the declining birth rate, as they have been raised in a family of only one or two children and have weak family relationships.

Wang said that according to his clinical experience, a great number of only children feel that losing a family member is the end of the world and some even need to see a psychiatrist after losing a pet.

The survey, conducted October 2 through November 4, also found that 41.5 percent of college students and 26.9 percent of senior high school students who responded to the survey had no idea of what to do when they become adults.

It quoted Chen Fei-chuan, director of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology's Student Counseling and Consultation Center, who said that the lack of direction among young people is one of the most worrisome issues facing Taiwan.

Chen suggested that students read more to help them sort out their life goals.

The survey obtained 4,475 valid responses, representing a return rate of 80 percent, according to the magazine.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/18/2009 page2)