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TO An unusual number of celebrities have committed suicide in Japan this year. Reality star Hannah Kimura and 30-year-old television actor Haruma Miura were the first to take their own lives. They had both left goodbye letters.
A few weeks ago, two more actresses committed suicide, aged 36 and 40.
But even beyond the spotlight in the country, too many people are ending their lives: In August, the number of suicides reached 1,850 in the month, a 15% increase over the same month last year, says “Deutsche Welle “.
The government recognized that there was a worrying trend and increased its suicide prevention budget by as much as 40% to € 29 million. And that money is very necessary.
During the pandemic, numerous non-governmental organizations that provided telephone assistance and consultations limited their activities and relied increasingly on donations. And the need for their work is constantly growing.
The forest of suicides
Mostly female and getting younger
Experts are convinced that the increase in the number of suicides is due to the pandemic. At first, in Japan, as in many other countries in the world, restrictions on public life came into force and personal contacts decreased dramatically. Initially, people mobilized to face the danger.
In the first half of the year, there were even fewer suicides in Japan than usual.
But then the social and economic consequences of the crown crisis began to have an increasingly painful effect on the mental health of the Japanese. Unemployment has risen, many small businesses have gone bankrupt, and several small business owners are mired in debt.
Source: iStock
The increase in suicides is particularly notable in the context of relatively low mortality as a result of Kovid-19. The pandemic has killed 1,600 Japanese so far and the number of suicides has already reached 13,000.
The situation in the age group of women between 20 and 40 years is the most worrying. Masakharu Maeda, a health specialist at Fukushima University, said the reasons were primarily economic.
She explains that women in this age group often lose their jobs due to the pandemic, as many of them work on temporary or part-time contracts.
Another group particularly at risk are adolescents, among whom the number of suicides has been growing for years. In August alone, nearly 60 students committed suicide, double the number in the same period last year.
Experts believe that this growth is due to several factors. Often the reason is bullying, but renewed schooling and the associated strong pressure for children to catch up quickly also play a role.
“We’ve already heard about five-year-olds talking about death,” said Hiroyuki Nishino, director of a child support organization.
In other countries, the number of suicides is increasing
The number of suicides is increasing in other countries of the world. It is said that in neighboring South Korea, more and more people are taking their own lives.
According to the Indian Foundation for Suicide Prevention, two-thirds of therapists report an increasing number of self-harm attempts and suicide attempts.
And in the United States, according to a May study, there will be “75,000 more people who will die of despair” in the next ten years, including suicide bombers and drug addicts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) finds that in 60 of the 130 member states, people’s mental health care is neglected due to the pandemic.
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