Akiko Kamesaka

Accessing Suicidal Ideation from Responses to Queries on Subjective Well-Being

Japan’s suicide rate rose after the Asian Crisis and the subsequent economic downturn, and has remained high since. In 2009, the male suicide rate was the third highest among OECD countries, and the female suicide rate was the second highest. According to the National Police Agency, more than 30,000 people committed suicide on average in each year from 1998 to 2011; in 2013, 27,283 people killed themselves in Japan. In addition, the National Police Agency (2014) reported that the major reasons for committing suicide in 2013 were health conditions (13,680 cases), financial difficulties (4,636 cases), family problems (3,930 cases) and work issues (2,323 cases) in Japan. The methods used to commit suicide, in 2009, were: hanging (19,700), gas poisoning (4,337), jumping from a great height (2,360), drowning (886), incision (683), other poisons (663), jumping in front of trains (643), and other suicide methods (1,150). Suicide also generates a negative externality; the WHO (2000) indicates that on average each suicide intimately affects at least six other people. Thus, suicide prevention programs should also include postvention to those who are mentally affected.