Survey reveals 19% seriously thought about committing suicide

Saturday 17th May, 05:52 AM JST

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10 Comments

yabits at 06:52 AM JST - 17th May

Instead of turning the attention to regulating websites that discuss methods of suicide, why not focus on the reasons why so many people would turn to such a website for "help" in the first place?
some14some at 07:21 AM JST - 17th May

yabits: J-govt's responsibility is limited to 'first-aid' only.
Betting at 08:43 AM JST - 17th May

I think the actual culture of Japan needs to be changed. It seems to be quite embedded in society here. At the end of the Bubble economy, how many people committed suicide? Hasn't suicide also been seen as a way to atone for one sins (e.g. the death of former agricultural minister Matsuoka)? How many cases of bullying have ended with the victim committing suicide?

People need to be taught that suicide is not the answer. Once your dead, you can't be brought back and the grief that is caused by suicide is enormous. If those people had tried a little harder, or changed/delayed their decision things might have improved, but now they'll never know and their families will still be missing them/grieving.
VOR at 08:49 AM JST - 17th May

If I were the Emperor of Japan, I'd replace "Kimigayo" with "Don't worry, be happy". Its a start.
romulus3 at 11:55 AM JST - 17th May

betting,

People need to be taught that suicide is not the answer. Once your dead, you can't be brought back and the grief that is caused by suicide is enormous. If those people had tried a little harder, or changed/delayed their decision things might have improved, but now they'll never know and their families will still be missing them/grieving.

maybe thats how you feel, but obviously Japanese people do not feel that way. why should they feel the same about something as you? it is very egocentric of you to want others to change to suit the way you feel about the world. If they want to kill them self, let them. who are you to say whats wrong and right for Japanese people?
medievaltimes at 11:19 PM JST - 17th May

Japan's suicide rate has been high for years. As much as I would like to blame the J government, it wouldn't be fair.

The society and culture as a whole are to blame. Denial is a hallmark of the Japanese way of thinking, and shame is a daily way of life in this country. Mix this with pressure to conform, bullying, a lack of independence, no confidence, insane working hours and massive amounts of alcohol...not a good situation for mental health.

Changing any culture will take a long long time. I just wonder how far along Japan is on that path.
romulus3 at 12:54 AM JST - 18th May

medievaltimes,

since when has suicide in japan been a modern dilemma? First you dipped into culture, then you broke into the industrial revolution. Just stick with culture and then defy them. It may be that it is their cultural right. If so, they will come to their own conclusions in their own time, as is their individual right to do so as a unique culture. Part of the modern day epidemic of suicide is having had western culture bombed upon them, and having a very very short space in time to come to terms with where they are at now and what faces them in the future, especially considering the drastic and traumatic change in Japan over the last decades.
yabits at 04:48 AM JST - 18th May

No, romulus3, suicide or "murder of the self" is nearly always completely egocentric. (Sacrificing one's life to save another's is the complete opposite.) It is not egocentric to care if someone else is happy with their life. The poster, Betting, wisely considers the damage to others left behind by the egocentric and self-destructive individual.

I do not deny anyone the right to kill themselves if that is what they want to do. But, generally speaking, self-destruction is stupid. And it appears that some cultures teach their members that there is no life outside the culture, and so this narrowness leads to a decrease of options felt by the person who for some reason no longers feels a place in the narrow culture -- even though it is quite likely that he or she will find a welcome place in the larger world. People are humans before they are members of a cultural group.

You do not speak for all Japanese people. I am sure that there are many who believe that suicide is a stupid and tragic waste, and is an act that reveals a mental health deficit.
medievaltimes at 12:11 AM JST - 19th May

It may be that it is their cultural right.

Paaalease....why do people have to sugar coat this stuff?

Look, every culture has good and bad points. Suicide happens to be a bad point for Japan (see above post). Oh...and another bad point of Japanese culture is the inability to take criticism without taking it as a personal attack.
Notginger at 02:12 PM JST - 19th May

Just 19%?!?!?!? That means that 81% are lacking in the intelligence, imagination and sensitivity to work out that life is inherently meaningless and there are times when the negatives so outweigh the positives that just ending it all seems the only sensible thing to do. Either that or the majority of people are just so incredibly happy. Don't tell me that none of the other posters here have never seriously thought of suicide, NEVER. That's unbelievable.