- Parents of students missing from the sunken ferry are grieving, desperate
- The students' vice principal killed himself; some fear others may do the same
- South Korea has a high suicide rate compared to other countries
- Mental health workers say no family members sought counseling near ferry site
(CNN) -- The grief of any parent who loses a child is unimaginable. But that pain is amplified now in South Korea, due to the uncertainty over the fate of hundreds -- many of them children on a school field trip -- on a sunken ferry and how this east Asian nation's culture copes with such heartache.
For proof, one need look no further than hospital beds where some parents are hooked up to IVs because their sorrow is so great that they have refused to eat.
Some say they don't want to live.
Families' frustration: 'Nothing is changing'
"If I don't have my younger child, I want to jump in the sea," one woman said. "Thinking about my child in the sea, how can I, as a parent, eat or drink. I hate myself for this."
Family members of missing passengers hug as they await news of their missing relatives at Jindo Gymnasium in the southwestern province of South Jeolla, South Korea, on Saturday, April 19. The ferry sank Wednesday, April 16, leaving at least 32 people dead and more than 270 missing. It was headed to the resort island of Jeju from the port of Incheon. 
Relatives on shore wait for their missing loved ones in Jindo on April 19. 
South Korean Navy Ship Salvage Unit members prepare to salvage the sunken ferry and search for missing people on April 19. 
Oil from the sunken ferry appears near the wreckage site on April 19. 
Lee Joon Suk, the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol, is escorted to the court that issued his arrest warrant Friday, April 18, in Mokpo, South Korea. It is not yet known what caused Wednesday's deadly accident. 
Offshore cranes wait near buoys that mark the location of the sunken ferry near Jindo, South Korea, on April 18. 
A U.S. helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard during search-and-rescue operations on April 18. 
A woman cries as she waits for news on missing passengers April 18 in Jindo. 
Relatives of missing people aboard the Sewol look out over the waters of the Yellow Sea on April 18. 
A searchlight illuminates the capsized ferry on Thursday, April 17. 
The ship's captain, Lee Joon Suk, arrives at the Mokpo Police Station in Mokpo on April 17. His head and face covered, he broke down in tears when reporters asked whether he had anything to say. 
A woman cries during a candlelight vigil at Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, on April 17. Most of the people on board the ferry were high school students on their way to the resort island of Jeju. 
Rescue personnel dive April 17 during search operations. 
Family members of passengers aboard the sunken ferry gather at a gymnasium in Jindo on April 17. 
The body of a victim is moved at a hospital in Mokpo on April 17. 
Relatives of a passenger cry at a port in Jindo on April 17 as they wait for news on the rescue operation. 
South Korean coast guard members and rescue teams search for passengers at the site of the sunken ferry on April 17. 
A relative of a passenger cries as she waits for news on Wednesday, April 16. 
South Korean coast guard members search for survivors from the Sewol as it sinks on April 16. 
Rescue teams and fishing boats try to rescue passengers on April 16. 
The body of a ferry passenger is moved into a hospital in Jindo on April 16. 
Relatives check a list of survivors April 16 in Jindo. 
Relatives of missing ferry passengers wait for news at a gym in Jindo. 
Rescue crews attempt to save passengers from the ferry on April 16. 
A South Korean coast guard helicopter lifts passengers off the vessel on April 16. 
Police and rescue teams carry a passenger at the port in Jindo on April 16. 
A relative waits for a missing loved one at the port in Jindo. 
Parents at Danwon High School search for names of their children among the list of survivors. Ansan is a suburb of Seoul, the South Korean capital. 
Helicopters hover over the ferry as rescue operations continue April 16. 
A man in Seoul watches a news broadcast about the sinking vessel. 
Officials escort rescued passengers April 16 in Jindo. 
A passenger is helped onto a rescue boat on April 16. 
A passenger is rescued from the sinking ship on April 16. Photos: South Korean ship sinks 
Bodies recovered from South Korea ferry 
S. Korea ferry captain defends actions 
Agony for waiting South Korean families In South Korea, suicide is a real threat.
It has the highest suicide rate among the 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Some point to South Korea's ultra-competitive society or an unwillingness to accept failure as factors that contribute to this reality.
Kin give out DNA
It is a culture where shame carries a heavy burden, and where there is simply a societal acceptance of suicide.
Officials have made mental health workers available to the families, but despite the enormity of the tragedy, they find themselves not busy.
"No one came to us for counseling. The families don't care about their safety or well-being," said Han Kee Rae, a psychology volunteer.
Counselors hope more people will come for help, especially in light of the high number of suicides in the country.
Timeline: How it unfolded
There are fears that some may follow the example of Kang Min Kyu, the vice principal of Seoul's Ansan Danwon High School.
The 52-year-old Kyu was among the first to be rescued from the sinking ship.
Then, two days later, he was found hanging from a tree.
Police said he used a belt to apparently hang himself from a tree near a gymnasium in Jindo, where the distraught relatives of missing passengers have been camping out.
In a note, Kang wrote that the field trip had been his idea and that the deaths of the students were his fault.
His suicide is hardly the first, nor the most high-profile, in recent memory in South Korea.
Former President Roh Moo Hyun jumped to his death in 2009 in the wake of a financial scandal. And Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong Hun leaped from a building in the midst of a corruption investigation in 2003, ending his life.
Wherever it leads, the despair was palpable at the site where grieving family members of the capsized ferry's passengers have been gathering.
For some, the sadness is mixed with anger. And desperation abounds.
As one woman, during a briefing by maritime officials, shouted: "How are we going to live now?"
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