Change brings suicide, mental illness
Psychiatrists and social scientists are blaming Vietnam's rapidly changing society for what they say is an alarming increase in the
number of suicides and hospital admissions due to mental illness.
State media reported yesterday that a single commune in central Quang Tri province had in the past two months seen 13 suicides
and 10 attempted suicides. They were attributed to greater material expectations and the breakdown of support from within the
family unit.
According to a report in the Phu Nu Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh newspaper, more than two-thirds of the victims were females
whose sense of worthlessness was heightened by the criticism and extreme demands of other family members.
For the most part rural Vietnam remains conservative. Women are responsible for about 70 per cent of economic output, but have
fewer educational opportunities and lower social status than men.
But, at a time of economic transition and high unemployment when the gap between rich and poor continues to grow, research by
the Ho Chi Minh City Psychiatric Health Centre revealed that men, too, were feeling the stress of challenges to traditional
definitions of masculinity.
Centre deputy director Nguyen Van Chanh told the Vietnam News Agency his hospital was struggling to cope with a 10 per cent
increase in the number of in-patients and a 30 per cent increase in the number of out-patients in the past year.
"Schizophrenia is on the increase but depression is the condition suffered by most," Dr Chanh said. "Up to 75 per cent of patients
are males between 30 and 50 years old, of which 70 to 80 per cent are unemployed or without stable employment. We forecast
that the number will continue to increase due to the pressures of industrialisation and economic development."
Dr Chanh said alcohol abuse also appeared to be on the increase, the result of men in particular turning to drink in order to cope
with stress or feelings of inadequacy.
The centre is also treating up to 75 students each month, a figure which doubles during examination periods and which health
professionals attribute to heavy study loads, the high expectations of parents for educational success, and an increasing lack of
harmony at home.
The South China Morning Post - January 2, 2001.
|