[Letters]Timely focus on desperate reality

All your readers should be very grateful to Prof. Susan Oak for her well-written and very timely article, “Changing perceptions of depression” in Korea today. (Viewpoint, Feb.13)

There is no one in this country (and many others, for that matter) who is not susceptible to the pressures of life which may cause all forms of depression and often lead, eventually, to suicide. My fervent hope is that Korea’s societal institutions, such as schools, churches, hospitals, and even families, will put a priority focus on the cries and needs of all individuals. If Korea can respond to such problems first, then other areas of concern like [children having to] study abroad, English teaching, divorce and many more can in turn be solved more effectively.

The human cost of suicide is incalculable. It behooves us to re-read all the information Prof. Oak has provided and then choose to not turn our backs on each other at such a crucial time as this.

Thank you for calling attention to this present and desperate reality around and within us.

Sonia Reid Strawn, Seoul