Suicide hotline struggling to cope
TOKYO —
A hotline set up to help people considering killing themselves is stretched to its limit, with the economic crisis feared to be worsening the country’s suicide problem, its director said Wednesday.
More than 30,000 people kill themselves every year in Japan, giving the country one of the world’s highest suicide rates.
A national suicide hotline run by the Inochi no Denwa—Telephone Lifeline—association is struggling to meet demand, with 7,000 volunteers handling some 700,000 calls a year.
“We don’t have enough volunteers,” said Yukio Saito, the head of the federation. “I’m afraid that there will be a rise in suicides with the economic recession.”
Japan’s suicide rate shot up in the late 1990s soon after the collapse of the bubble economy. Asia’s largest economy has again fallen into recession as the global crisis saps demand for its exports.
The central government gave the association 80 million yen last year, a drop of 20% from several years ago, with some centers also getting local subsidies, he said.
Some 24 out of every 100,000 Japanese people killed themselves in 2006, higher than the global average of 16, according to the World Health Organization.
The high rate in Japan is often attributed to the absence of religious taboos about suicide, society’s strong pressure to conform and the lack of psychological care for depressed people.
Wire reports
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samsarks
yes,it will rise this year with all been japanese cos if society dictates even to the extent ofwhich underwear you should put on.then when the real world catches on you and there is no way out,the next option is suicide.i think suicide should be discussed during moral lessons at school and who knows it might save some life
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Disillusioned
Hmmm.... One would conclude there is a serious problem within the society, which needs to be addressed at a federal level. These help centers are a good idea, but it is only adressing the results and not the cause. I've personally known three Japanese people who killed themselves in the last three years and oddly enough, they were all mothers in their 30's to early 40's. - It is because of statistics like this and incidents like the mother abandoning her three little kids to play pachinko that I chose my user name - Completely DISILLUSIONED!
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nutsagain
This the reality of modern japan ... There are so many struggling against an indifferent administration, squabbling politicians and weak-kneed local beaurocrats. Treading water is about all anyone at a local level is doing. I suggest anyone with NHK BS television watch a very accurate description of many modern Japanese peoples' plight on a to be rebroadcast program entitle Japan: Love&Hate. Fascinating insights into what is going on for many, many people now with estrangement from others, self, self worth and even sex ... This will be re broadcast soon.
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dennis0bauer
it will not be long before the volunteers commit suicide because of the pressure
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Sanatan22
There are several reasons for the high suicide rate in Japan and one of them is the old samurai code, bushido, that considers suicide a noble thing to do to get out of all your problems. People who kill themselves are forgiven for whatever they have done because they have shown remorse by killing themselves. Another reason is that Japan is a country where Christian charity doesn't exist. People don't feel sorry for the homeless or feel that they should give them any help. That's why there is hardly any social security for those who lost their jobs or need help. Single mothers, for example, can get help from the government, but there is such a stigma attached to asking for help as a single mother, that most of them shy away from going to the city hall to fill in the papers that would get them the help they deserve. Many people also get into financial trouble because of the debts they have with loan sharks who charge enormous amounts of interest - a practice that is still tolerated by the government. Then there is the stigma attached to getting psychological help from a therapist or psychiatrist. If you go to a shrink you must be mentally ill. One of my friends is a nurse at a psychiatric hospital and it has a back door entrance to allow patients to slip in and out without being seen, such is the stigma attached to going to a therapist for treatment. Japanese people have nobody to talk to when they are burned out from stress or other problems, so the only way out is suicide. Indeed, unlike Christian societies, Japan has no religious system that prevents people from killing themselves. 30,000 suicides a year means about one every 15 minutes - hard to imagine but true, sadly enough.
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oreoreda
The real figure is probably even higher than the official 30,000-odd. Sometimes the corpse is never found, or the families are so ashamed they get it recorded as a sudden illness or an accident. I find it incredible that the central government is reducing funding. It's not even that much money, by government standards.
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usaexpat
700,000 calls a year? That's a staggering number. I think the suicide rate is a product of modern life in Japan. There is just too much pressure and it keeps getting harder for people to make ends meet.
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smithinjapan
"The high rate in Japan is often attributed to the absence of religious taboos about suicide, society’s strong pressure to conform and the lack of psychological care for depressed people."
The latter two hit the nail on the head pretty well; I wouldn't be so sure about the first one. I know more than a few Athiests who think it's wrong to off yourself simply because it's a waste of life, etc.
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seggahme
i have the simple solution - this service must concentrate on high school girls calls, not wasting time for others. the future mothers are more important.
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