TsuNOMI [Tsuji Forums]

[Hertsi-chan]

Special/Survey:

Japanese views on suicide

Last year two of the big stories in Japan were children killing themselves due to bullying, and group suicides with people meeting over the internet in suicide clubs. Regardless of how tragic each incident is, these types of suicides make up just a few percentage points of the overall figures, with physical ill-health in older people being the main trigger for suicides. To find out what the average Japanese thinks, the Cabinet Office of Japan sponsored an opinion poll on the topic of building a healthy heart (suicide prevention methods).

Demographics

3,000 adults were selected randomly from the Japanese voter lists and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Of the original sample, 1,728 answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 57.6%. 54.7% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, 21.1% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older.

Note that the buzzword for the suicide prevention methods is こころの健康づくり, kokoro no kenkou-zukuri, literally translated as building a healthy heart.

Research results

Q1: Since 1998 the numbers of suicides in Japan has topped 30,000 every year, a figure four or five times larger than deaths in road accidents. Did you know that every year that large number of people took their own lives? (Sample size=1,728)
Yes 66.4%
No 33.6%

Next, the respondents were given a summary of the Basic Law for the Prevention of Suicide and asked to read it closely, then asked the following question.

Q2: How much did you know about the Basic Law for the Prevention of Suicide? (Sample size=1,728)
Knew the details of the law 1.7%
Knew the objectives of the law 6.5%
Knew the name of the law only 20.9%
Didn’t know anything 70.8%

Q3: Given the following statements about suicide, which answer is closest to how you think about them?

Q3A: “Suicide is premeditated.” (Sample size=1,728)
Think so 58.3%
Don’t think so 30.3%
Don’t know 11.3%

Q3B: “People who say they will commit suicide do not actually take their own life.” (Sample size=1,728)
Think so 50.0%
Don’t think so 36.5%
Don’t know 13.5%

Q3C: “Suicide is not mentioned beforehand, but suddenly occurs.” (Sample size=1,728)
Think so 46.0%
Don’t think so 44.7%
Don’t know 9.3%

I feel Q3 is flawed. The statements do not have simple yes/no answers, so perhaps either degrees of agreement or opinions on the frequency of such occurances would have been more illuminating.

Next, the respondents were shown a list of signs of clinical depression and asked to read it closely, then asked the following questions.

Q4: Did you know that these sorts of symptoms are signs of clinical depression? (Sample size=1,728)
Knew them well 39.5%
Knew a little about them 44.6%
Didn’t know about them 15.9%

Q5: If you noticed these signs of clinical depression in yourself, would you visit a professional psychologist? (Sample size=1,728)
Think so 56.5%
Don’t think so 34.8%
Don’t know 8.7%

Although Q5 indicates the majority of people would seek professional help for depression, I suspect there is quite a gap between what people say here and what they actually would do.

Q6: If you noticed these signs of clinical depression in other family members, would you recommend that they visit a professional psychologist? (Sample size=1,728)
Would recommend 89.2%
Would not recommend 6.3%
Don’t know 4.5%

Q7: If you yourself had clinical depression, what sort of medical services would make it easier for you to get appropriate treatment? (Sample size=1,728, up to two answers)
If it was possible to get treatment for mild depression from other doctors 54.7%
If there were professional counsellors training, if there were more people close at hand to talk with 54.2%
If there was treatment other than a hospital psychology deparment 40.4%
If there was a psychology department in a nearby hospital 19.6%
Other 0.8%
Don’t know 3.3%

Perhaps to explain the top answer regarding seeing other doctors for depression, what the answer is getting at is that perhaps people may be too embarrassed to visit a mental health clinic so instead would prefer to discuss with a doctor they were perhaps familiar with at ordinary internal medicine clinics for help.

Q8: Did you know that at health centres there are “building a healthy heart” desks? (Sample size=1,728)
Yes 33.6%
No 66.4%

Q9: Did you know that at Mental Health Centres there are “building a healthy heart” desks? (Sample size=)
Yes 20.3%
Know about Mental Health Centres, but didn’t know there were “building a healthy heart” desks 10.5%
Didn’t know there were Mental Health Centres 69.2%

Q10: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities are being carried out? (Sample size=800, those in employment, multiple answer)
Questionnaire at regular health checks 45.8%
Information and training for employees 19.4%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace 19.4%
Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out 12.8%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace 11.8%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours 8.9%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed 7.8%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place 6.0%
Nothing in particular 37.1%
Other 0.9%
Don’t know 3.6%

Perhaps I’m lucky, but my employer carries out all the activities in Q10. Whether or not anyone acts on the information provided is another matter altogether, of course!

Q11: How satisified are you with “building a healthy heart” facilities available to you? (Sample size=1,728)
Satisfied 5.8%
A little satisfied 26.7%
A little dissatisfied 13.0%
Dissatisfied 9.1%
Can’t say either way 20.5%
Don’t know 24.8%

Q12: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities are being carried out? (Sample size=246, those in self-employment or home working, multiple answer)

Questionnaire at regular health checks
36.6% Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out
17.5% Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed
15.0% Counselling facilities available at the workplace
13.8% Information and training for employees
10.2% Counselling facilities available outside the workplace
9.3% “Building a healthy heart” plan in place
7.3% Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours
6.9% Nothing in particular
40.2% Other
2.8% Don’t know
3.3%

Q13: At your workplace, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities do you expect to have? (Sample size=800, those in employment, up to three answers)
Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out 34.4%
Questionnaire at regular health checks 32.6%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace 26.8%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours 23.5%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace 21.6%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed 18.5%
Information and training for employees 17.9%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place 9.4%
Nothing in particular 21.3%
Other 1.5%
Don’t know 1.0%

Q14: Thinking about your closest family member in employment, what sort of “building a healthy heart”-related activities would you like to see available for them? (Sample size=682, those unemployed or retired, up to three answers)
Questionnaire at regular health checks 47.5%
Doctor interviews with those with continuing long overtime hours 33.4%
Work-related stress questionnaires are carried out 33.4%
Counselling facilities available at the workplace 30.2%
Counselling facilities available outside the workplace 19.2%
Self-evaluation tests for “building a healthy heart”, stress, etc, distributed 17.3%
“Building a healthy heart” plan in place 9.7%
Information and training for employees 9.4%
Nothing in particular 10.3%
Other 1.3%
Don’t know 9.2%

Q15: Regarding the following mental-related societal problems, for which of them do you know of a trusted place where you can discuss matters? (Sample size=1,728, multiple answer)
Bullying 49.5%
Debt, loanshark 48.4%
Consumer protection 47.0%
Nursing care 41.8%
Child-rearing 41.5%
Loss of job 33.3%
Long working hours 28.7%
Sexual harrassment 26.8%
Crime victim support 26.8%
Bankruptcy, financial depression 21.5%
Real estate, other legal problems 21.4%
Other 1.0%
Don’t know 23.3%

Q16: In order for the government to prevent suicide in the future, for which of the following societal problems should the government put effort into establishing? (Sample size=1,728, up to three answers)
Bullying 48.0%
Loss of job 34.3%
Nursing care 33.6%
Debt, loanshark 32.9%
Long working hours 26.8%
Child-rearing 24.0%
Bankruptcy, financial depression 18.9%
Crime victim support 17.9%
Consumer protection 17.4%
Real estate, other legal problems 2.8%
Sexual harrassment 2.7%
Other 1.1%
Don’t know 5.7%

Q17: When the media reports on suicides, it is said that the style of reporting has an effect on suicide prevention. What in particular do you think would have an effect of preventing suicides? (Sample size=1,728, up to three answers)
Presentation of information on who to contact regarding problems 52.3%
Broadcast how to resolve problems 46.7%
No detailed reporting on the method of suicide 37.6%
Presentation of information on suicide signs or how to respond to them 35.8%
No broadcast that bullying suicides, etc have a single cause 25.9%
No sensational reporting of famous people’s suicides 23.6%
No broadcast of images or drawings of the dead body 15.3%
Other 1.5%
Don’t know 7.4%

...(WhatJapanThinks) credit: H!P university

[Nozomi]

yeah i read on a site that helps you wit japan stuff and it says that bullying is japanes bigest problem and some kids kill themselves because of it
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[Kirarin Land]

Such a shame. :[

I've read about this recently. It's hard to picture so many people killing themselves each year.