A Comparison of Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Individuals With and Without Suicidal Thoughts and Suicide Attempts in South Korea

Abstract

Background: A suicidal person can go through different stages that include suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. For a few individuals, these can end up with suicide. However, there have been no studies investigating any differences in attitudes toward suicides among individuals with no suicidal thoughts, those with suicidal thoughts, and those with suicide attempts.

Aims: This study was carried out to compare attitudes toward suicide among three different groups: individuals with a history of no suicidal thoughts, those with a history of suicidal thoughts, and those with a history of suicide attempts.

Method: To examine Koreans' attitudes toward suicide, we analyzed the data from the 2013 National Suicide Survey involving 1,500 participants aged between 19 and 75 years.

Results: Different attitudes toward suicide were found among the three groups. Persons reporting that they had made a suicide attempt in their life showed the most permissive attitudes toward suicide.

Limitations: Since this research is based on cross-sectional data, it is difficult to eliminate the possibility of changes in attitude toward suicide completely after having a suicidal thought and suicide attempt.

Conclusion: These results can be a useful source for constructing effective messages for suicide prevention campaigns and can ultimately contribute to an improvement in the public's perceptions of suicide in the future.

Keywords: attitudes toward suicide; suicidal thoughts; suicide attempts.