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For several years, the numbers have been decreasing. Slowly but surely, Japan’s suicide statistics have improved.
The peak was reached in 2003. At that time, nearly 35,000 Japanese took their own lives. In 2019, the number dropped to almost 20,000, which still meant that more than 50 people took their own lives every day. Almost 70 percent of them were men.
But after several years of decline, recent months have once again cast shadows on the statistics. The corona pandemic is now cited as the reason suicide rates are rising again, writes CNN.
The news channel has spoken, among other things, with Eriko Kobayashi, a 43-year-old woman living in Tokyo with a job and permanent income. Now life is turned upside down due to the impact of the coronavirus on Japanese companies and society.
– The salary I receive is reduced. I have a constant fear of ending up in poverty again. “I don’t see any lights at the end of the tunnel,” Kobayashi told CNN.
Expect an increase in suicide
Terrifying development
The 43-year-old had struggled with suicidal thoughts for several years, but worked his way through trouble. Now the nightmare is coming true again, after the imminent danger of major financial problems has arisen.
And she is not alone. Figures for October are grim, showing 2,153 suicides in the country of 126 million people. This is the highest number in a month since May 2015.
There are also many more deaths as a result of suicides than the country had in the same month as a result of the crown. In all, just over 2,000 Japanese have lost their lives as a result of corona infection since March.
– We have not even had a closure and the impact of the pandemic is minimal compared to many other countries. It paints a picture that other countries may also experience the same, or even greater, increase in the number of suicides as we have, Professor Michiko Ueda of Waseda University in Tokyo tells CNN.
No increase in Australia
Fear and expectations have also been grim in various parts of the world. Many have described the pandemic as a time bomb when it comes to suicide.
However, a study published in the renowned The Lancet Psychiatry turned fears on its head. Analyzes of suicide rates in 2020 were compared to suicide rates in 2015-2019 in Queensland, Australia.
The researchers hypothesized that suicide rates would increase during infectious disease outbreaks, as has been the case during previous pandemics. The result surprised everyone.
There were 3,793 suspected suicides in Queensland between January 1, 2015 and January 1, 2020. This represents a monthly rate of 14.85 deaths per 100,000 people. During the pandemic, from February 1, 2020 onwards, 443 suicides were recorded, a monthly rate of 14.07 deaths per 100,000 people.
“These findings are inconsistent with predictions of an increase in suicide during the covid-19 pandemic,” the researchers wrote, but cautioned against assuming the picture would persist.
Decline also in Norway
Dagbladet interviewed Professor Lars Mehlum, director of the National Center for Suicide Research and Prevention (NSSF), regarding the figures from the Australian study. He said in early November that Australia’s figures also matched well with Norway’s.
In March, April and May 2020, fewer Norwegians took their own lives than in the same period in the previous five years. The number of suicides in Norway was 12.5 percent lower in the three months of 2020 than the average for the same months five years ago.
In real numbers, there was a decrease from 160 to 140 suicides, according to an analysis by the Cause of Death Register.
