Suicides in Japan jump 16% in the second wave of COVID-19 after falling in the first wave: study

TOKYO (Reuters) – Suicide rates in Japan increased in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among women and children, although they fell in the first wave when the government offered generous aid to people, a survey revealed.

The suicide rate from July to October increased 16% over the same period last year, a total reversal of the 14% drop in February-June, according to a study by researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology in Tokyo.

“Contrary to normal economic circumstances, this pandemic disproportionately affects the psychological health of children, adolescents and women (especially housewives),” wrote the authors in the study published on Friday in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

The early decline in suicides was affected by factors such as government subsidies, reduced working hours and closing schools, the study concluded.

But the decline was reversed – with the suicide rate rising 37% among women, about five times the increase among men – as the protracted pandemic affected the industries where women predominate, increasing the burden on working mothers , while domestic violence has increased, the report said.

The study, based on data from the Ministry of Health from November 2016 to October 2020, found that the rate of child suicide increased by 49% in the second wave, corresponding to the period after the closing of a school across the country.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this month issued a state of emergency COVID-19 for Tokyo and three neighboring city governments in an attempt to stem the resurgence. It expanded this week to seven more prefectures, including Osaka and Kyoto.

Taro Kono, minister of administrative and regulatory reform, told Reuters on Thursday that while the government is considering extending the state of emergency, it “cannot kill the economy”.

“People care about COVID-19. But many people also committed suicide because they lost their jobs, lost their income and saw no hope, ”he said. “We need to find the balance between managing COVID-19 and managing the economy.”