<Anchor>



There are many unfortunate cases in which parents who took care of children with schizophrenia or developmental disabilities make extreme choices saying that they can no longer afford it.

35% of these caregivers who are enduring the weight of long-term care have tried or thought of making an extreme choice, which needs to be alleviated.



First, reporter Han Seong-hee covered the actual situation.



<Reporter>



On the 12th, 65-year-old Kim Mo was found dead in a villa in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.



Next to her was a daughter in her 30s, who had suffered from schizophrenia for 20 years, collapsed from carbon monoxide poisoning, and she is currently being treated in hospital.



Her mother, Mr. Kim, left her text message "It's all because of my genes" as her will.



On several occasions, she only confided to her family about her burden of caring for her daughter's sick care.



[Neighbors: When we met, we just greeted each other, but I didn't know that this kind of situation was happening.

(When we meet) Doesn't he look depressed...

.]



Ms. Kim has not received any assistance from the government regarding her daughter's sick care in her past 20 years.



[Community Center Welfare Officer: (About nursing the mentally ill) There is nothing the Ministry of Health and Welfare can do for you.]



Two years ago, in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, a mother in her 60s killed her schizophrenic daughter, whom she had been caring for for 23 years.



[Family of schizophrenic patients: (the burden of care) is not easy to express in words.

I also have a lot of thoughts of wanting to die...

.]



Extreme parental choices are also seen in families with developmental disabilities such as intellectual disabilities and autism.



There were 23 murders in the family with developmental disabilities in the past 3 years and 7 cases this year alone, 4 cases in the last month alone.



It is believed that the aftereffects of the corona pandemic have had an adverse effect.



[Park Eun-young / Family with developmental disabilities: They say that living is hell.

Because I have to live with a friend who is very hard all day...

.]



As a result of a Seoul survey in April, it was found that 36.7% of family caregivers of people with disabilities in high-risk groups such as mental and developmental disabilities suffered from mental problems such as depression and anxiety, and 35% tried or recalled extreme choices.



The prevalence of schizophrenia mental disorder and developmental disorder in Korea is not small, about 6 and 1 in 1,000, respectively.



Even so, there has never been a proper fact-finding investigation into which family members are pushed to the crisis of extreme choice.



You need to examine the geographic distribution and economic level of at-risk families and quickly determine when in the care period is most at risk.



(Video coverage: Gyun-jong Kim, Hyung Yoon, Video editing: Min-gyu Jeon, CG: Chan-hyeok Lim)



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