감사원 “고위험군 자살시도자 기관 인계 미흡…심리상담 실효성도 낮아”

The Mental Health Vulnerable Population Support Assessment conducted by the auditor general revealed shortcomings in the suicide prevention system's transfer of information and low efficiency of psychological counseling services. Between August 2022 and 2024, the Seoul Fire Department transferred information on 1,245,252 out of the 2,479,798 suicide attempt survivors they encountered to the suicide prevention centers, while the remaining 1,234,646 cases (49.8%) did not receive any information transfer.

According to the revised suicide prevention method implemented in 2022, police and firefighters must transfer the personal information of suicide attempt survivors to relevant institutions, including the suicide prevention centers. Although the number of suicide attempt survivors' information transfer to the centers increased from 3,8491 cases in 2023 to 4,9492 in 2024, the number of cases transferred by the fire department decreased.

The auditor general attributed this to unclear division of roles between the police and firefighters. Moreover, the department noted that 81.5% of suicide attempt survivors who directly visited emergency rooms, totaling 9,8694 out of the 12,1178 who visited emergency rooms between 2020 and 2024, did not have their information transferred to the suicide prevention centers.

This is because the healthcare institutions providing emergency care to these patients have no obligation to share their information, leading to gaps in the system. The auditor general also emphasized the need to improve the utilization rate of psychological counseling services provided by the centers. Centers offer psychological counseling support to suicide attempt survivors, providing up to eight sessions if the individual agrees.

However, out of the 18,6373 suicide attempt survivors transferred to the centers by the police and firefighters between August 2022 and 2025, only 1,536 (5.7%) agreed to eight sessions of psychological counseling. Research from both domestic and international sources suggests that an increase in the number of counseling sessions tends to reduce suicide risk.

However, 44.3% of the individuals who received psychological counseling through the centers between 2020 and 2024 attended fewer than eight sessions and subsequently ceased the case management. Furthermore, 402 of the suicide risk survivors who received aftercare from the centers had already taken their own lives before the center made any follow-up phone calls or sent messages to ensure their well-being.

The auditor general called for an expansion of support for the families of suicide victims, as they are classified as high-risk groups with an 8-9 times higher likelihood of suicide compared to the general population. Nevertheless, only 3591 out of the 1,4872 family members of suicide victims in 2024 were notified by the police, representing only 2.9% of the total.