Last year it hit the newspapers that Korea had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Experts scrambled to explain this phenomenon, but perhaps one of the foremost contributing factors to this statistic is that in Korea people tend to not seek or even shun therapy when dealing with distress.

The reason for this is that employers can view your mental history in the interview process. Basically, you have two choices: seek help or remain employable. No one should have to make this choice, but every day in Korea people do just that, and often sadly choose not to get help.

This employer-employee dilemma is insidious on the whole for society since people who need help seldom receive it and instead suffer in silence. Could this be a contributing factor to high suicide rates and poor mental health? I will let the reader decide on that one.

What’s more, why should an employer have access to your mental or even medical records? How are they qualified to interpret or use this information? You can almost guarantee that it will be used irresponsibly by people who have little or no knowledge of its meaning.

As the extended family breaks down and traditional family networks deteriorate in Korean society, everyday citizens will become ever more isolated and alone in solving their life problems. These generations of Koreans now and in the future need a mental health care infrastructure that supports and protects them by offering counseling and therapy ― not alienation and persecution. 

By Kurt Sproat

Kurt Sproat is a teacher trainer in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Korea. ― Ed.