Japanese men committing suicide and record rates

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2008-06-19 16:29

Story here. Excerpt:

'Japanese professionals in their thirties are killing themselves at unprecedented rates, as the nation struggles with a runaway suicide epidemic.

Newly published figures show that 30,093 people took their own lives in 2007 — a 2.9 per cent increase in a year — leaving the country as the most suicide-prone anywhere in the developed world and rendering government efforts to combat the problem a failure.

Suicide rates remained highest among men — at 71 per cent of the total — and very high among Japan’s rising population of over-60s. Geographically, most suicides took place in the prefecture of Yamanashi, where the forested foothills of Mount Fuji continue to attract the suicidal from around Japan.

...
The crisis of despair gripping young working Japanese has triggered plenty of official and media hand-wringing, though little in the way of change in corporate Japan. Wages remain low, and hierarchies rigid.

“We live in an uncomfortable and restrictive society where trivial matters are important,” said Professor Kiyohiko Ikeda, a veteran social commentator at Waseda University. “The young feel a sense of deadlock; society does not accept minor mistakes.”'

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Comments

Latest stats on men's worldwide suicide rates show that Lithuania is No. 1 at 76 per 100,000.

Russia comes in at No. 2 - 71 per 100k.

Japan is in the middle at 37 per 100k.

The U.S. is lagging behind at 18 per 100k.
(Although the U.S. has a bigger suicide gap between men and women than many countries-women being 4 per 100,000. So American men are 450% more likely to kill themselves than women.)

Interestingly, almost all the countries that used to be part of the old Soviet Union, now independent, score very high on suicide rates.

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Submitted by Roy on Thu, 2008-06-19 21:44

Could you imagine what would happen if governments adhered to the principle of protecting individual rights and legalized suicide and assisted suicide? Imagine if societies had to address the "problem" of having tens of millions of unhappy people--members of the lower slave classes--killing themselves. Who would work the slave wage jobs if the impoverished classes offed themselves?

I'm not really saying that tongue-in-cheek; my position is that suicide and assisted suicide should be legal and that anyone should be able to obtain a painless, dignified death provided by a doctor.

From a men's movement perspective, can you imagine how many enslaved involuntary fathers would commit a painless suicide rather than pay child support, etc.? I bet it would help get more attention for men's issues.

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Submitted by WhipperSnapper on Fri, 2008-06-20 03:09

Disclaimer: I've had suicide ideation since I was a child. I don't take suicide lightly. I see suicide as a symptom of larger problems - in my life at least.

I used to feel frustrated at how much effort is expended avoiding discussion or investigation into the underlying causes of male suicide.

I have reached the point where I now find these articles fascinating and entertaining (in a macabre way).

I find it fascinating to watch the engines of denial churn and hand-wring as male suicides continue to rise. Quotes are collected from experts which boil down to either, "we don't know why men commit suicide" or "we can do nothing to help them".

The thing about suicide is that it cannot be ignored. Someone is dead. You cannot ignore death like you can depression, torture, circumcision, or whatnot.

I believe suicide is a bellwether mens issue. When and if we take male suffering seriously, we'll open the suicide can of worms.

Conversely, until we open the suicide can of worms, we cannot claim we're taking male suffering seriously.

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Submitted by Corbin on Sun, 2008-06-22 22:17