Suicide on the rise in Asia

The unemployed are one of the major groups of distressed callers

(CNN) -- Try calling the Suicide Prevention Services hotline in Hong Kong, and this is what you'll get: "I'm sorry, we're too busy to take your call, please call back."

Too few volunteers struggling with a surge in callers.

In the last year calls to this number have soared 30 percent.

The Samaritans' multilingual hotline used to receive about 60 calls a day, it now gets more than 100.

One of the major groups of distressed callers: the unemployed. The territory's unemployment rate has just hit a record seven percent.

"They can't pay the mortgage, or they can't pay rent, which is more likely in Hong Kong," says Samaritans Director Stephanie Kumaria. "And they become very, very frightened."

Nearly 1,000 people in Hong Kong killed themselves last year, up seven percent from 2000.

There were recently seven suicide related deaths in one day alone. In one case, a woman killed herself and her eight-year-old son. The police said they were told she had debts.

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The recent spate of deaths, many from asphyxiation by burning charcoal, has jarred the government into action.

It's tripling the number of hotlines at its family crisis support center and stepping up educational campaigns.

"The government is very concerned," says Fung Paky-yan, Assistant Director of the Social Welfare Department.

"I agree we need consolidate and let people know there are services."

There is a need for concern elsewhere in the region as well, most notably in Japan, where there are more than 30,000 suicides a year. The country is enduring its fourth recession in a decade.

Koji Ogawa of Tokyo's Ashinaga Foundation, which helps the children of suicide victims, says with the worsening economy, salary-men are facing layoffs and business owners are burdened with massive debt.

It's a similar story in parts of Southeast Asia.

For instance, more than 22,000 people attempted suicide last year in Thailand, the country that triggered the Asian financial crisis.

"When they can't achieve, they think they are losers. When they feel they are losers, they don't want to face the world and they don't want to live anymore," explains Chulalongkorn University psychology professor Puntip Sirivunnabood.

Experts say governments and professionals in Asia need to commit more resources to suicide prevention and social safety nets.

Some support groups are also seeking help from the business community.

In Hong Kong, for example, supermarket giant Park 'N Shop has agreed to include labels featuring suicide prevention hotlines on all bags of charcoal.