In Japan, more people died by suicide last month than from COVID in all of 2020
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https://6abc.com/japan-suicides-suicide-rates-covid-women/8359064/
In Japan, more people died by suicide last month than from COVID in all of 2020
Experts say this alarming spike is being partially driven by women, who often work in industries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Selina Wang, Rebecca Wright and Yoko Wakatsuki, CNN
Sunday, November 29, 2020 11:46AM
In October 2020, more people died by suicide in Japan than were killed by the novel coronavirus in 10 months. Experts say this alarming spike is being partially driven by women, who often work in industries most affected by the pandemic.
TOKYO -- Eriko Kobayashi has tried to kill herself four times.
The first time, she was just 22 years old with a full-time job in publishing that didn't pay enough to cover her rent and grocery bills in Tokyo. "I was really poor," said Kobayashi, who spent three days unconscious in hospital after the incident.
Now 43, Kobayashi has written books on her mental health struggles and has a steady job at an NGO. But the coronavirus is bringing back the stress she used to feel.
"My salary was cut, and I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "I constantly feel a sense of crisis that I might fall back into poverty."
Experts have warned that the pandemic could lead to a mental health crisis. Mass unemployment, social isolation, and anxiety are taking their toll on people globally.
In Japan, government statistics show suicide claimed more lives in October than Covid-19 has over the entire year to date. The monthly number of Japanese suicides rose to 2,153 in October, according to Japan's National Police Agency. As of Friday, Japan's total Covid-19 toll was 2,087, the health ministry said.
Japan is one of the few major economies to disclose timely suicide data -- the most recent national data for the US, for example, is from 2018. The Japanese data could give other countries insights into the impact of pandemic measures on mental health, and which groups are the most vulnerable.
"We didn't even have a lockdown, and the impact of Covid is very minimal compared to other countries ... but still we see this big increase in the number of suicides," said Michiko Ueda, an associate professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, and an expert on suicides.
"That suggests other countries might see a similar or even bigger increase in the number of suicides in the future."
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More Japanese people will die this month from suicide than died in the entirety of the Vietnam war.
(Not trying to make light of what is an awful situation)
