HONG KONG: Among the most devastating tolls exacted by the economic recession is the effect on mental health, a toll reflected in the numbers of people calling Suicide Prevention Services (SPS).

The monthly average of calls to the SPS hotline between April and June this year was 3,000. During the same period last year, the monthly average was only 2,000.

The number of calls from men between the ages of 30 and 45 soared 85 percent. The greatest number of calls are related to financial and employment problems, and calls in which people were considering taking their own lives for those reason jumped 68 percent over last year.

Over 40 percent of callers had emotional problems and suicidal feelings, with 16 percent declaring intent to carry out the act.

One volunteer who reaches out to try to help callers to find their way back is a mother whose son took his own life three years ago. Her volunteer work for SPS is to help suicide survivors put their lives back together.

Ms Law said after her 16-year-old son committed suicide, her entire family was devastated and she contemplated suicide herself.

"I thought the world owed me and grew angry," Law stated. Later, her anger turned to guilt that she had not given her son the care he needed. She judged herself a loser. "At one moment, I felt complete failure. It seemed there were no roads ahead for me anymore. I thought of dying."

"I was trying to kill myself by jaywalking and other different means, but I was afraid. I had pain inside but could not relieve it," Law said.

The mother said volunteers in SPS and Project BLESS Befriending service for Lighting up and Empowering Suicide Survivors had provided a platform for her to release her pent-up emotions. She is volunteering at SPS now, helping others by sharing her own experience.

(HK Edition 07/14/2009 page1)