Suicide Deaths in Japan Higher than COVID-19
The number of people who ended their life by suicide in Japan in October surpassed the number of people killed by COVID-19 infection for the entire year. According to the report by the Japanese Police Force, the number of citizens who ended their lives in the country last month is 2153.
The most recent data published by the Ministry of Health shows that there have been 2087 deaths from Covid-19 since the beginning of the outbreak.
These statistics show that suicide incidents, which have been declining for many years, have risen steadily recently, hitting their highest level since May 2015.
Japan is among the few advanced economies to publish suicide information on a timely basis. Sadly, Japan is the nation with the greatest number of suicide incidents in the Western Pacific following South Korea (26.9 per 100,000). The world average is 10.6 per 100,000.
Suicide incidents in Japan are related to a variety of causes. These causes include long hours of service, school stress, social alienation, and stigma. Records of suicide incidents have been maintained in the country since 1978.
Suicides of Women Increasing
Based on these results, there was a decline in suicide cases over the 10 years leading up to 2019. Last year actually, the number of suicide incidents decreased to 20,000. However, it is believed that the corona-virus outbreak has triggered this pattern and that this spike is primarily affecting women.
Men form the bulk of people who have committed suicide in Japan. However, the percentage of women taking their own lives is rising.
Is Covid-19 the only variable to blame?
Japan was one of a few countries that quickly controlled and limited corona-virus cases. As a result, they now have less stringent quarantine requirements relative to many European countries and America.
In other words, the root causes of suicide in Japan may be interpreted as deeper problems – unrelated to COVID-19.
According to CNN’s article, Associate Professor Michiko Ueda of Waseda University in Tokyo, “We have not even been locked down and the effect of Covid-19 has been very minimal compared to other countries.”
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