Youth suicide rates are on the rise in many countries. According to the World Health Organisation, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among 15- to 29- year-olds. Political unrest is thought to be a factor associated with heightened distress among youth. With an increasing number of young people devoted to political protests around the world, which sometimes involve the use of suicide as a means of protest, understanding the rise and spread of suicide in the context of a political crisis is a pressing concern for suicide prevention professionals. The Anti-Extradition Bill (AEB) movement taking place in Hong Kong in 2019 reflects these trends, in that most of participants are young people. After a high profile jump by a protestor, several suicides believed to be related to the political crisis were publicised and mourned by protestors, and research indicates that the number of people who suffer from depression and suicidal ideation is on the rise since the beginning of the movement (The University of Hong Kong, 2019). As the political crisis went on, the oppression during and after the movement and the change in political environment constitute to the collective trauma of Hong Kong people and mass migration waves from Hong Kong to other countries including the U.K.

Hosted by Professor Lynn Tang, this seminar is based on a research project that includes in-depth interviews with 35 young people in Hong Kong. It will trace the collective trauma arisen from the political crisis, and share preliminary observation and reflections from the interviews.

This seminar will be of interest to people who want to understand the impact of a large-scale networked activism on wellbeing, the perceptions of protest suicide, and the different layers of trauma experienced by the Hong Kong immigrants arriving to the U.K. in recent years. 

Please note that this seminar will include photos about the political crisis in Hong Kong which some attendees may find distressing. A warning will be given before these images are displayed.

Note that this session will NOT be recorded.

About the speaker

Lynn Tang is a sociologist with her core research area in mental health, inequalities and related policies. She has a special interest in service users' lived experience and perspectives. In the UK, she has worked at the University of Birmingham's Centre of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Mental Health for a multidisciplinary mental health project. In Hong Kong, she was an Assistant Professor in the University of Hong Kong's Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention and Lingnan University's Department of Sociology and Social Policy.  Her book, Recovery, Mental Health and Inequality (Routledge, 2017), was shortlisted for BSA Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize. Her publications also appear in journals such as British Journal of Social Work, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Community Development Journal, Mental Health Review, Journal of Contemporary Asia and a few edited books such as the Routledge International Handbook of Mad Studies. She will join the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool as a Lecturer in the summer of 2022. 

For more information about Professor Tang, please visit: https://www.ln.edu.hk/socsp/people/academic-staff/professor-lynn-tang/

Accessing the event

This event will be held online on Zoom. Click here to register your place.

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