According to a health report issued by OCED, South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. To address the issue some South Korean companies are trying something which they think can discourage people from thinking of suicide as a solution to their problems. The companies make the workers attend "death workshops" specifically designed to make them embrace their problems and also understand that difficulties are part of life. Those who attend these workshops sign mock wills, write final letters to their families and are then shut inside coffins for ten minutes. Whether this makes the people appreciate life more at the present can't be confirmed but after some time they can tell how effective it is if suicide rates drop.
I don't think this really helps, maybe they need to address the issues of society and there is an artificial pressure on for people to achieve and live a certain way. It's clear it's not working with people turning to suicide, alcohol and drugs. For those who don't have the pressures they don't know, so to solve a problem you have to see it from the other peoples perspective.
If they even stop one person from committing suicide then it will have all been worth it. Not sure how effective it will be but it worth a try. I can't see it doing any harm.
I bet the people who attend this type of workshops have to pay for their attendance. In my opinion, they aren't trying to help, they are trying to make money from desperate people.
I can get that it's trying to help some people going through desperate times, but I can't help but feel this is the wrong way of going about it. Maybe I'm reading into it a little wrong, but I can't help but feel it's giving off a bad message, similar to telling a naughty child to go sit on the naughty step. "Well if that's the way you feel then go lay in that coffin for a while"
It's an initiative taken by the employers because they are concerned about the welfare of their workers. Everything is all paid for by the employers. Had it been the other way round I doubt anyone would be interested in attending a "death workshop" and get placed in some coffin.
I'm thinking the money would be better spent on therapy workshops, or use the money where employees can be paid to go and do a group activity together where people can open up and share their concerns. Some issues may not all be work related, and you can't change someone's mind about something that quickly. One should address the root of the cause, not make them fear death and feel bad about feeling that way.
While I can see the logic behind it, no matter how twisted that logic is, I'm not sure if this is going to have the desired affect. While it will certainly make people think I'm sure in others it could have a negative impact. If I got shut in a coffin I know that I wouldn't be to happy about it, and I know that for a fact!
This doesn't change the status quo. These workshops are nothing else than a cow that expects to be milked. In my opinion, you can't fake death. People who decide to take their lives choose at any given moment a quick death over a slow one, therefore why bother put them in a coffin, it's not like they would choose to burry themselves in a coffin, physically speaking.
I thought it was Japan with the highest suicide rates among workers but now it is South Korea. And to think that South Korea has patterned their society with that of Japan, perhaps they are in the same boat. What I had noticed with the Japanese companies are their strictness when it comes to quality. That there is no substitute for the best quality which leads to slave driving of the employees. Maybe the pressure and the stress that get into the nerves of the employees are excessive hence they are led to suicides.
