October 28. On the 27th local time, the Japanese government released a white paper on suicide countermeasures, showing that suicide has become the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 39 in the country. Since July this year, the number of suicides in Japan has exceeded that of the same period in 2019 for three consecutive months, and the number of suicides by middle school students has increased significantly.
According to a report from Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on the 28th, the Japanese government’s suicide countermeasures white paper published on the 27th showed that a total of 2,169 people died by suicide in the country in 2019. Judging from the age of suicides, although the number of suicides over the age of 40 is gradually decreasing, the number of suicides under the age of 20 has increased, and suicide has also become the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 39.
According to data released by the World Health Organization, only Japan among the developed countries is the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 34 is suicide. Hirokazu Tachikawa, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Tsukuba, said that “the education on mental health is insufficient, and (young people in Japan) lack the knowledge of suicide prevention such as solving daily problems.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the National Police Agency show that since July this year, the number of suicides in Japan has exceeded the same period in 2019 for three consecutive months. The reason may be the suicide reports of many well-known actors and the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
In order to reduce the social unrest caused by suicide reports, the Japan Suicide Prevention Association issued an urgent appeal on the 26th, asking various media not to repeat relevant reports, and the public should try not to publish relevant information online. (Overseas Wang Xiluo)
