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A body hangs by a rope strung
over the ceiling. A troubled soul in a suit plunges in front of a speeding
morning train. Scenes like these have become so typical the management of Japan
Railways (JR) even came out with an ordinance requiring families of suicide
victims who throw themselves in front of speeding trains to pay for the cleanup
costs.
In a restrictive society that
frowns upon failure and nonconformity, taking one’s own life (自殺or jisatsu) seems to have become an
accepted way of ending the despair. Public discussion of suicide as a
social problem remains to be taboo in this cloistered country and yet the
statistics is distressing. Recent government figures indicate that about 32,000 people
took their own lives in 2008, marking the 11th straight year that suicides remained above the 30,000-mark, which make
the Japanese among the most suicidal people in the
developed world.
Unfortunately, as the economy
worsens there is fear that depression, and ultimately, mood-related
hopelessness can get worse. Recession can easily become one of the lowest
period in everyone’s life. As the economy struggles to remain buoyant, more and
more people become at risk of losing their jobs or sources of income.
Interestingly, amidst all cultural studies explaining suicide in Japan,
empirical studies still point to socio-economic conditions as the most significant
variable. In general, according to one study by University of Tokyo
economists, better economic conditions such as high levels of income and higher
economic growth tend to reduce suicide rate while factors such as income
inequality tend to increase it.
It may be worthwhile to mention
that at the height of the Japanese economic miracle, workers committed
themselves to an implicit social contract—to work tirelessly for their
companies which in return would take care of them for life. But when the
economic bubble burst, panic over inevitable downsizing left many workers
feeling betrayed and confused. Immediately they had to face families they had
barely known and have neglected in favor of work, a society that frowns upon
failures, and very little prospects in terms of career opportunities.
Employees, indeed, are at the very heart of Japan’s
depression epidemic. Fortunately, a few large corporations are now trying to
break down the suicide taboo and are addressing the issue head on through
employee assistance programs (EAPs), confidential counseling, and health plans
that cover depression and other psychological conditions. For example, Sony’s preventive health care program which allows off-site
consultation and confidentiality, for instance, is regarded as a major step in
these efforts.
As individuals, of course, we can always choose to distance
ourselves away from suicide and help others from falling into the depression
maelstrom. We can begin by starting each day with a tiny drop of optimism and a
grain of hope. Why not? Before we know it, the financial markets will bounce
back, the economy will stabilize, jobs will become available and the world will
turn to normal in a short while.
As French author François Duc de La
Rochefoucauld aptly put
it, “hope,
deceitful as it is, should serve at least to lead us to the end of our lives by
an agreeable route.” This crisis shall pass and when it does, will you be there as a survivor or
a part of the statistics?--JK
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