It only took a single generation for the country to go from an impoverished nation to one of the world’s top economies.It is a fast-paced society, where people have a hard time slowing down.Some observers say this rapid development is leaving many South Koreans feeling isolated and depressed.Kim Hyun-chung, a psychiatrist at the National Medical Center in Seoul, says more than half of her patients have suicidal thoughts.“We’re just growing just too fast and people don’t have time to adjust to it," she explains."We are an Asian cultural society but now we are more globalized. Its westernized and I don’t think people have had the time to adjust to the big changes.”The biggest change, Kim says is family structure. No longer do multiple generations live under one roof.She says the traditional support systems are disappearing.“More parents are working, mother father, they’re both, working families.More focused toward competition, earning the money all of that. I think we’re more focused to that than the quality of life,” Kim says.She adds that senior citizens make up the largest demographic of Koreans who take their own lives.But suicide is still a leading cause of death for young adults, high school and even middle school students.Over the past five years, at least 100 Koreans have leaped off Seoul’s Map Bridge into the Han River.Around half of those jumpers lost their lives.
