General Anxiety Disorder

"SLEEPLESSNESS, IRRITATION MAY BE SYMPTOMS"

General anxiety disorder may be affecting 3% of population

"About 3 percent of Japanese are probably suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, which leads to depression and seriously affects not only those who have it, but also those around them.

Osamu Tajima, a Kyorin University professor, said GAD patients sleep poorly, suffer headaches and become highly sensitive and impatient.

"Naturally, they become irritable, tormenting themselves and troubling those around them," Tajima said.

GAD used to be called anxiety neurosis and was thought to be a condition that mainly affected highly sensitive and nervous people. Its causes are not fully known, but neither character nor stress is the cause.

"It is supposed that symptoms of anxiety, tension and sleeplessness occur after the brain's work to adjust anxiety and emotion becomes unbalanced," Tajima said.

As the number of those suffering from GAD in Japan is not well known, Tajima and other researchers recently carried out an Internet survey covering 24,000 people.

It asked whether they have felt a lack of rest and have worried about something trivial for more than half a year.

They were also asked whether they are suffering from headaches of unknown cause or other pains, whether they cannot fall asleep or sleep well, and about several other symptoms.

As a result, 3.2 percent of the respondents were diagnosed as suffering from GAD. The ratio of men and women was the same. The largest group was those aged 15 to 19, at 4.2 percent. Only 6.8 percent of all the respondents have received hospital treatment, and 83.8 percent have never been treated..."

Japan Times, June 16, 2005

Child Sex Victims Rate

Child sex victim rate skyrockets

"Children in Japan fell victim to violent sex attacks about once every 3 1/2 hours on average last year, a Mainichi survey of Japan's prefectural police forces has showed.

Violent sex attacks on children have soared by 70 percent over the past decade, according to the results of a poll on 46 of the country's 47 prefectural police forces.

Police figures showed that last year more than 2,600 little children of junior high school age or younger fell victim to rape or indecent assault.

The figure is about 70 percent greater than the 1,530 reported in 1994, the last time a similar survey was carried out by police.

Tragically, police fear that there is not only an increase of sex attacks on children, but large numbers of victims are not reporting the crimes committed against them and the actual rate of sex crimes is believed to be significantly higher.

The total number of reported child sex crime victims was 2,607. Of the 232 rape victims, there was one pre-school child, 58 elementary school children and 173 children from junior high school. Another 2,375 reported cases of indecent assaults on children were also dealt with. These involved 167 pre-schoolers, 1,381 elementary school children and 827 junior high school pupils....

...In a 1998 survey by a group of experts on child abuse, 29 percent of women and 3.7 percent of men aged from 18 to 39 reported having been made the victim of some sort of sexual abuse before they had turned 18.

Child sex victims are often plagued by the attacks, frequently finding it difficult to deal with the opposite sex. Many require therapy for years...

Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, May 12, 2005

Rise in Child Abuse Reports

Japan sees big rise in child abuse reports

Japan is recording a significant increase in the number of cases of child abuse being reported, eight months after bringing in a law that makes it mandatory to report suspected abuse.

The health ministry says the number of suspected cases reported rose to 32,979 for the reporting year that ended on March 31, 2005 ﾐ Japan's highest level ever, and 6,400 more than the number of reports received the previous year.

Most cases of abuse in Japan involve violence or neglect, the ministry said. In two-thirds of cases, the alleged abuser is the child's mother.

A new law passed in October makes it mandatory to report children who have bruises, severe weight loss or other signs of abuse.

Previously, only people who actually witnessed an act of child abuse were obliged to report it..."

CBC News, 20 June, 2005

Child Psychology

Strategy for mental health vital

Autism, Child Abuse and Child Psychology: Government Committee to study increasing specialists.

"... A 2002 sampling by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry of about 40,000 primary and middle school students in five locations around the country revealed that 6.3 percent of the children might suffer from a developmental disorder, such as autism or attention deficit disorder.

"Nearly 20 percent of children--including delinquents, kids that don't go to school, and in particular, children who are abused--could be in need of some sort of emotional support," one specialist said.

There are, however, no clear regulations for becoming a child psychologist. Many of those making diagnoses are psychologists who are concerned with children's issues or pediatricians well versed in psychiatry.

The reality, according to the health ministry, is "it [child psychology] lies in a gap between pediatric medicine and psychiatry, and is a very shorthanded field."

Makiko Okuyama, psychiatric consultant at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, says it takes between one and 1-1/2 hours for the first medical examination of children that cannot express themselves.

There are many cases in which doctors can get a clear picture of what is wrong with children by watching them play. But, Okuyama said, "There are few instances in which it [the examination] is covered by insurance."

Treating these child patients also has a larger psychological burden.

In the case of a child who carries emotional scars from being abused, the psychiatrist may have to deal with the parents or recommend the child be temporarily taken into protective custody.

A law to support the developmentally disabled that went into effect in April puts the onus on the central and local governments to provide medical and welfare services, including a guarantee that there will be an appropriate number of specialists.

Also, a revised child-abuse prevention law that took effect in October makes support of abused children the government's responsibility.

Taking this trend into consideration, the ministry established in March an investigative committee made up of pediatricians and psychiatrists. The committee plans to submit a proposal by April on how to increase the number of specialists in the field.

While fostering child psychiatrists is a pressing issue, it is important to first think of what can be done to help children in need of psychological support. To do so, such measures must extend into regional communities, ensuring doctors assigned to examine children have specialist knowledge in child abuse and developmental disorders..."

Yomiuri Shimbun,

European Japan Suicide Prevention

Japan trails Western Europe in averting deaths

"Japan, with one of the highest suicide rates in the industrialized world, is far behind Western Europe in mapping out prevention strategies.

While the former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries still have higher suicide rates than Japan, in Western Europe, countries such as Finland and Britain are winning the fight.

Finland, the world leader in implementing prevention measures, has recorded a 9-percent drop in suicides over the past two decades.

It introduced the world's first nationwide suicide prevention measures in 1986, said Yutaka Motohashi, a professor at Akita University. At the time, Finland's suicide rate was higher than Japan's. But its three-phase intensive project has undoubtedly saved many lives.

First came research, from 1986-91, with specialists examining the causes of self-inflicted deaths.

In the second phase from 1992-96, networks were set up to reach out to the population. Basic action units were established in residential areas, workplaces and the military.

In the last stage, begun in 1997, evaluations and surveys found that the suicide rate had dropped about 9 percent from the 1986 level.

"In Finland, suicide prevention was never limited to combating depression-that was only a tiny part of the overall plan," said Motohashi. "(Rather,) Finland succeeded by creating a model that invigorated the entire society."

Britain's suicide rate ranked 57th in the world in 1999. Although its suicide rate is one-third of Japan's, prevention ranks high on the social conscience. And it has gained priority.

In September 2002, Britain's National Institute of Mental Health implemented its first national suicide prevention plan, aiming to reduce the suicide rate by 20 percent by 2010.

Specific goals included:

*Intervening in high-risk cases;

*Reaching out to a wider range of people, including those living below the poverty line and abuse victims;

*Reducing access to tools for suicide, such as by selling sleeping pills in packages of fewer tablets.

Takeo Nakayama, an associate professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, summed up the British model.

"Their overall suicide rate is coming down. The strategies are proving effective. Further, the government takes a flexible approach, refining the programs according to the changing circumstances... "

International Herald Tribune/Asahi: June 23, 2005

Reason to Live

Reason to live

"Too often, people contemplating suicide don't realize help is at hand.

And with an annual suicide rate in excess of 30,000, local governments are belatedly responding to the problem.

The fact is, national government strategies aimed at reducing the toll have made little difference. That is why local governments have stepped into the breach...

... Japan's suicide rate rose sharply in 1998 when the domestic economy was in a tailspin following the bursting of the heady asset-inflated bubble a few years earlier. That year, suicides grew by 8,000 to top 30,000 for the first time. The rate has hovered there since, although last year it showed a slight decline.

In 2002, Japan recorded 24.1 deaths through suicide per 100,000 people, giving it one of the highest rates in the industrialized world.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare finally moved in fiscal 2001 by earmarking 300 million yen for suicide prevention programs.

For this fiscal year, the figure is 855 million yen.

The health ministry says it hopes to reduce the annual suicide rate to fewer than 22,000 by 2010. It is emphasizing research on depression, training workplace physicians and setting up crisis hot lines.

Still, critics say the government's measures lack scope and are too focused on combating depression.

Critics also say the programs don't look at factors such as financial woes caused by joblessness and debt, which are increasingly responsible for the high suicide rate.

The Asahi Shimbun survey was conducted in cooperation with Tadashi Takeshima, director of planning at Tokyo's National Institute of Mental Health...

... Hokkaido was among 15 prefectural governments that came right out and used the word "suicide."

Others couched their programs in euphemistic labels such as "mental health" or "anti-depression."

In a similar survey in 2002, Takeshima found that only eight prefectural or municipal governments initiated projects that referred directly to suicide.

"Akita Prefecture, for example, tackled the suicide issue head on, without any whiff of taboo," Takeshima noted. "Inspired by Akita's success, other prefectural and municipal governments have begun using the word, too."

Akita Prefecture had the highest number of suicides per 100,000 population for 10 consecutive years-until last year.

In fiscal 2000, the Akita government set up a comprehensive prevention program and urged residents to give their support.

Six towns with high suicide rates were chosen to test the program under which officials counseled individuals considering suicide. The prefectural government provided extensive support through health education and consultations on steps to treat depression.

As a result, the number of suicides dropped from 30 in 2001 to 13 last year..."

International Herald Tribune/Asahi: June 23, 2005


The target of a reduction of the annual suicide number of 22,000 by 2010, if achieved would be an improvement. However 22,000 a year is still too many people dying. More consideration needs to given to the use of education and information for people to understand that experiencing financial difficulty through unemployment, debt and the development of depression and suicidality are often intrinsically related to one another. Another possible way to raise awareness of how to get help for oneself or a relative who may have become depressed, may have previously attempted sucide or who may be suicidal would be for television and radio campaigns to be launched at both a national and regional level. Immediate, positive and assertive publicity and action campaigns have the potential to increase public awareness of how to find the medical and social services and resources which exist to prevent suicide. - Timi

Preventing Suicides

Preventing suicides

Research is needed on why people choose to die.

An average of 88 people committed suicide every day last year in Japan for a total of 32,325, according to the National Police Agency.

The figure was down by 2,000 from the previous year, yet it remained over the 30,000 mark for the seventh consecutive year. Attempted suicides could be five to 10 times as high.

Health and financial reasons led to two-thirds of all the suicides, according to the NPA.

These factors have always troubled people in any era, but the harsh realities of an increasingly competitive society may be fanning the flames. Weakening bonds in families and local communities must also be having an effect on these tragic figures.

Five years ago, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare devised a plan to reduce the number of suicides up to 22,000 by 2010.

The plan's main approach was to fight depression. People who think about ending their lives have a variety of problems, but most are diagnosed as having bouts of depression or being chronically depressed. The ministry is trying to establish a system to encourage such people to seek consultation and treatment.

Although it is a move in the right direction, the harsh reality is that there has been little progress in this grand project that was set up amid much fanfare. The government should put more efforts into researching the causes of suicide and the background characteristics. The government should also help local governments and private organizations to expand existing programs..."

The Asahi Shimbun, June 11 (International Herald Tribune/Asahi, June 14, 2005)

Well worth reading the whole article of this detailed editorial. It focuses on prevention measures that have already proven succesful in reducing local suicide rates in Akita and other places. If these programs were implemented in all regions and areas in Japan it is only reasonable to expect a significant reduction in both people who become depressed and commit suicide and the emotional pain and psychological suffering of those in their families and communities who survive them. -

Health Ministry Suicide Plans

Research team planned to reduce suicides by 20%

(NB: It is important to note that the annual suicide figures in this article The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare figures for 2003 and 2004.

These should not be confused with the annual suicide rate figures which have since 1947 been, and still are, reported annually by the National Police Agency.

The National Police Agency reported the number of suicides decreased by 6.1% to 32,325 in 2004, from 34,427 in 2003.

It is the NPA figures which have shown Japan to have experienced its seventh straight year in which suicides exceeded 30,000.- Timi)

"... The health ministry plans to set aside 200 million yen for a five-year research program aimed at reducing suicides triggered by depression, especially among men in the prime of their lives.

One goal of the research, the biggest program of its kind, will be to identify community and other programs that have succeeded, and to see if they can work on a larger scale in major urban areas.

The other objective is to find measures that can prevent a recurrence of depression and thus cut down on the number of suicide attempts.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had already set a target of reducing suicides to under 22,000 in 2010, but the continuing high numbers compelled ministry officials to seek other measures to stop depression-related suicides.

The health ministry recently said 30,227 people killed themselves in 2004, a decrease from the record 32,109 in 2003, but still the seventh straight year in which suicides exceeded 30,000.

The research project will be commissioned with the Japan Foundation for Neuroscience and Mental Health, which will begin accepting applications from researchers and medical institutions interested in taking part in the project.

The actual research could begin as early as this summer.In March, a health ministry research team headed by Teruhiko Higuchi, chief of the Musashi hospital of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, put together a report that included examples and appraisals of suicide-prevention programs around Japan...

...The other research plan will focus on individuals with depression who have attempted suicide.

In that program, a control group will be set up to compare the effectiveness of certain methods in preventing the recurrence of depression as well as the rate of attempted suicides.

The team will select about 1,000 suicidal individuals at medical institutions with close ties between their emergency and psychiatric departments.

Half of these patients will receive not only the normal treatment but will also be provided the opportunity to consult with specialists through the phone or e-mail. They will also be allowed to take part in a program to determine symptoms using the latest information technology, even after being discharged from the medical institution.

The objective of this research plan is to reduce the recurrence of depression by 30 percent over a three-and-a-half-year period... "

International Herald Tribune/Asahi: June 13, 2005

Government Suicide Plans

Govt plans support system to curb suicide rate

"With the number of suicides last year reaching 30,000 for the seventh straight year, it is imperative that the government establish a system to provide psychiatric help for people who have attempted suicide to prevent them from doing so again, specialists said.

"Attempted suicides might leave the hospital with their physical scars healed, but the mental scars remain," says Yukiko Nishihara of the Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center. "We must do something to help them."

Estimates show there are 10 to 20 times more people that have attempted suicide than those who have successfully committed it. That group is also hundreds of times more likely to actually end up committing suicide than the general population.

A 2002 proposal by a 20-member panel of experts established by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to devise measures to prevent suicide pointed out the importance of cooperation between psychiatrists and emergency treatment centers.

Many hospitals contact mental health professionals when an attempted suicide is brought in, but there are a large number of general hospitals without a psychiatric department. The reality is that the treatment attempted suicides receive, and whether they obtain treatment to prevent future attempts, varies between hospitals.

Takashi Hosaka, professor of medicine at Tokai University, stressed that "a psychiatrist should be involved in treatment from the time [an attempted suicide] is brought into the hospital."

Even in a situation where the patient is unconscious, the psychiatrist can start to formulate a treatment by talking to the family or friends who accompanied the attempted suicide to the hospital, Hosaka said.

However, some critics have said few psychiatrists are doing enough to help patients who have attempted to kill themselves.

Tadafumi Kusaka, a psychiatrist and director of Chiba Lifeline, said: "Many psychiatrists are busy seeing outpatients, and they have little time to speak with [hospitalized] patients. What's needed are caseworkers versed in depression and other problems to offer support for the patients."

This fiscal year, three years after the panel issued its proposal, the ministry is finally going to start taking measures to address this problem.

One of the core elements of the ministry's plan--a five-year study focusing on strategies for dealing with suicide-related depression--is the establishment of a support system for the attempted suicides.

A psychiatric checkup on attempted suicides brought into a hospital will be included, in the hope that repeated decisions about what kind of support works best will help curb the number of suicides in the future.

The government will start soliciting researchers and hospitals to participate in the study.

The research will be conducted at model hospitals, where emergency personnel and psychiatrists can work in cooperation.

Issues of how to provide support to hospitals where there is no psychiatrist on staff and limited cooperation between departments must be taken into consideration.

The ministry has said it will strive to reduce the number of suicides to less than 22,000 annually by 2010. To reduce the suicide rate, the government must use the research results in conjunction with a support system and secure the necessary human resources within the medical industry."


Yomiuri Shimbun, June 10th, 2005

Salaryman

Recession eats up careers, lives

"Iwata, 58, is an aspiring nature guide. Every weekend he drives 150 kilometers to a campsite in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, where the forest is deep and skunk cabbage blooms in tiny brooks. He has been training here as a guide for the past nine months.

The forest soothes him. He needs the peace the trees offer. Over the years, he has seen the ups and downs life can deliver. Gently he runs his hand over the bark of a dakekanba tree. "I don't have to work myself to death any more," he says.

Three years ago he was a salaryman...

... Looking back on the 17 years at a Mitsubishi Motors dealership, Iwata sees himself as having been perpetually pursued by numbers-number of homes visited, number of orders received, number of vehicles sold at such-and-such a discount.

Once, one of his subordinates committed suicide.

Feeling himself under pressure to raise his sales at whatever cost, the man began selling vehicles at unauthorized discounts, going deep into debt to make up the difference out of his own pocket.

It was a terrible shock. He could barely remember how he got through the funeral. He couldn't sleep. He was diagnosed as suffering from depression. That's when he took a month off, returning only to find his job no longer existed.

Shortly before his death, the salesman had received a letter from a credit card company. Iwata remembers seeing it on the man's desk. Was the man in trouble of some kind? He wanted to ask, but somehow couldn't find the words.

Iwata was his boss. Why didn't the man at least talk it over with him? Still, Iwata knows he would have been unable to dismiss the importance of increasing sales. But, was business more important than life itself?..."

International Herald Tribune/Asahi: June 11, 2005

Govt plans suicide reduction

Govt plans support system to curb suicide rate

"With the number of suicides last year reaching 30,000 for the seventh straight year, it is imperative that the government establish a system to provide psychiatric help for people who have attempted suicide to prevent them from doing so again, specialists said.

"Attempted suicides might leave the hospital with their physical scars healed, but the mental scars remain," says Yukiko Nishihara of the Tokyo Suicide Prevention Center. "We must do something to help them."

Estimates show there are 10 to 20 times more people that have attempted suicide than those who have successfully committed it. That group is also hundreds of times more likely to actually end up committing suicide than the general population.

A 2002 proposal by a 20-member panel of experts established by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to devise measures to prevent suicide pointed out the importance of cooperation between psychiatrists and emergency treatment centers.

Many hospitals contact mental health professionals when an attempted suicide is brought in, but there are a large number of general hospitals without a psychiatric department. The reality is that the treatment attempted suicides receive, and whether they obtain treatment to prevent future attempts, varies between hospitals.

Takashi Hosaka, professor of medicine at Tokai University, stressed that "a psychiatrist should be involved in treatment from the time [an attempted suicide] is brought into the hospital."

Even in a situation where the patient is unconscious, the psychiatrist can start to formulate a treatment by talking to the family or friends who accompanied the attempted suicide to the hospital, Hosaka said.

However, some critics have said few psychiatrists are doing enough to help patients who have attempted to kill themselves.

Tadafumi Kusaka, a psychiatrist and director of Chiba Lifeline, said: "Many psychiatrists are busy seeing outpatients, and they have little time to speak with [hospitalized] patients. What's needed are caseworkers versed in depression and other problems to offer support for the patients."

This fiscal year, three years after the panel issued its proposal, the ministry is finally going to start taking measures to address this problem.

One of the core elements of the ministry's plan--a five-year study focusing on strategies for dealing with suicide-related depression--is the establishment of a support system for the attempted suicides.

A psychiatric checkup on attempted suicides brought into a hospital will be included, in the hope that repeated decisions about what kind of support works best will help curb the number of suicides in the future.

The government will start soliciting researchers and hospitals to participate in the study.

The research will be conducted at model hospitals, where emergency personnel and psychiatrists can work in cooperation.

Issues of how to provide support to hospitals where there is no psychiatrist on staff and limited cooperation between departments must be taken into consideration.

The ministry has said it will strive to reduce the number of suicides to less than 22,000 annually by 2010. To reduce the suicide rate, the government must use the research results in conjunction with a support system and secure the necessary human resources within the medical industry."

Yomiuri Shimbun, June 10th, 2005

Suicide: Danger of Bad Media Reports

The Danger of Sensational, Inaccurate and Uncaring Reporting about Suicide in Japan.

The following link is to an article which is one of the worst examples of inaccurate reporting and unsubstantiated sterotypical comments about the currently availailale sucide rate (2004) in Japan and the small nunber of group sucides that involved the use of the internet:

Logging out of life

Here are some of the biggest of the many mistakes and errors contained in this report:

"Japan's suicide rate keeps rising as the internet brings more people together in group death pacts."

Wrong. Japan's suicide rate actually fell last year by 6.1%.


"According to the National Police Agency, 55 people died in group suicides last year in Japan after linking up on the internet, more than double the previous year. The influence of the internet is new, but not the deaths. Last year in Japan 32,323 people killed themselves, an average of 88 per day.

Wrong. the number quoted of "55 people died in group suicides last year (2004) in Japan after linking up on the internet", is not "more than double the previous year". It was not double at all. In the previous year, 2003, the National Police Agency report a total of 34 people.

DV Victims PTSD

Most domestic violence victims suffer PTSD

"More than 70 percent of women who are victims of domestic violence exhibit the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a survey by Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry study panel.

The survey found that 20 percent of victims had attempted to kill themselves or thought about doing so.

It is widely recognized that victims of domestic abuse and violence suffer emotional trauma, but the survey's results have highlighted the necessity for such victims to receive mental care.

The survey was conducted between April 2001 and May this year on 148 women staying at a privately run shelter in Kanagawa Prefecture or similar public-run facilities who were judged by doctors and such public organizations as the police as victims of domestic violence.

All respondents had been staying at the facilities for one month or less and were interviewed by counselors first and assessed jointly by counselors and psychiatrists. The survey is the first on domestic violence victims of its size, according to the ministry.

Of the 148 women surveyed, 65 women, or 44 percent, were diagnosed as having full-blown PTSD symptoms.

Forty-six other women had flashbacks of their experiences. When combined with PTSD symptoms, 111 women, or 75 percent, suffered from varying degrees of PTSD symptoms.

From January 2003, the study panel began investigating the women's propensity toward suicide.

Of 77 women interviewed, 15 said they had either tried to kill themselves or thought about it in the month prior to the interview.

The survey also found that the women diagnosed as having full-blown PTSD symptoms experienced more extreme forms of psychological and sexual abuse than the others.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Cabinet Office three years ago found that one in five women had experienced some kind of domestic violence.

In response to this finding among other factors, a revised law on the prevention of domestic violence came into effect in December. Despite such efforts, support systems for the victims remain insufficient in terms of mental care... "

Yomiuri Shimbun, June 4th, 2005

Suicide Statistics 2005

Suicides top 30,000 for 7th year

"Although the figure was down 6.1 percent, or 2,102, to 32,325 from the previous year, when it hit a record high, it was the fourth-highest figure since the survey started in 1978.

According to the report, debts and personal problems were the most common cause of suicide for men aged between 30 and 59, who accounted for more than 40 percent of the suicides.

While the economy has been picking up, the gap in incomes has become more serious, leaving men in the prime of their lives with financial difficulties.

The number of male suicides was down 6.8 percent to 23,272, while suicides by females dropped 4.3 percent to 9,053.

By age, men aged 60 or over accounted for the largest number at 7,015, followed by 6,128 men in their 50s, 4,074 men in their 40s and 3,200 men in their 30s.

Of the 10,443 people who left suicide notes, 4,087 said they were killing themselves because of ill health, followed by 3,436 who blamed financial and livelihood problems, followed by family troubles cited by 1,009, among other reasons.

However, financial and livelihood problems remained the most common reason for men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s with 382, 702 and 1,235, respectively, killing themselves for this reason.

Suicides by primary and middle school students decreased by 14 percent to 80, and those by high school students were down by 9.3 percent to 204...

... By prefecture, Tokyo topped the list with 2,691 people committing suicide, followed by Osaka Prefecture with 1,933, and Kanagawa Prefecture with 1,660. Tokushima Prefecture closed out the list with 176 suicides.

Between 1978 and 1997, there had been between 20,000 and 25,000 suicides per year. However, since 1998, when the figure increased by 35 percent to 32,863, exceeding 30,000 for the first time, it has topped 30,000 every year."

Yomiuri Shimbun, June 3, 2005

2004 Suicide 32,325, Down 6.1%

Japanese suicides fall from record high to 32,325 in 2004


"... The number of suicides last year in Japan fell to more than 32,000 from a record-high the year before, police said Thursday...

The National Police Agency said the number of suicides decreased by 6.1 per cent to 32,325 in 2004, from 34,427 in 2003. It was the seventh straight year the number of suicides topped 30,000...

... Japan's economy recently has shown signs of growth but more than a decade of stagnation had forced many people into bankruptcy or unemployment...

... The police agency said nearly one-half of those who committed suicide were unemployed. Men aged 40 and older accounted for about 74 per cent of the total; men outnumbered women three to one overall, the report said... "

Canadian Press, June 02, 2005

From an agency report which seems to still be attempting to rekindle last years' media focus on internet suicide numbers, even though 2004 figure of a national total of 54 people who met in groups via the internet was actually released by police sources two months ago. Despite the oblique and confusing title, the important information released by the National Police Agency within this article shows that in 2004, altough a still tragically high number of people (at 32,325) lost hope and committed suicide last year, that number actually represents a decrease of 6.1% (from 34,427 in 2003). - Timi