Photo: Depression in Singapore
On September 16, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong revealed that a whopping one-third of all suicides in Singapore are caused by relationship problems.
His written response to Nominated MPs Faizah Jamal and Laurence Lien’s questions about the suicide rate here also stated that financial or employment issues have contributed to a further one-third of suicide deaths. However, Mr. Gan insisted that the numbers do not represent any long-term trends.
“Suicidal behaviour has a large number of complex underlying factors, including family, social, economic and mental health issues… It is important to note that it is often not just one factor but a combination of several factors interacting with each other which may trigger suicidal behaviour,” he said.
Police records show the number of attempted suicides in Singapore has increased from 1,009 in 2011 to 1,090 in 2012. Earlier this year, Today reported that the number of suicides amongst young Singaporeans aged 20-29 suffered the most significant increase.
Read Mr. Gan’s response in full.
