November 25 According to a report by the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) on the 25th, recently, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released statistics that between April and October 2020, a total of 246 children committed suicide in the country, an increase of 58 compared with the same period in 2019. In response, experts believe that this situation may be related to the changes in life caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
It is reported that the number of children visiting and counseling in many medical institutions in Japan has increased recently. Psychologist Masaaki Ayoto, a hospital in Fukuoka, said that the number of patients who came to consult on suicide-related issues has tripled compared with previous years, especially the psychological problems of young patients under the age of 20.
According to the report, although some schools are also working on children’s psychological counseling, how to find children’s suicidal tendencies is still a big problem. A school teacher who has used to consult children’s psychology said, “It’s not easy to grasp children’s ideas accurately.”
Regarding the dramatic increase in the number of suicides among children, Shimi Arai, a professor of psychology at Kansai International Studies University in Japan, said that “this may be related to the increased level of social unrest caused by the coronavirus epidemic and the changes in life”. As for how to prevent it, Arai believes that it is necessary to carefully observe the changes of children and accurately grasp their ideas.
