Living with suicidal feelings: Japanese non-profit organizations for suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic

IF 1.7 Q2 SOCIOLOGY
Yoko Yamada
{"title":"Living with suicidal feelings: Japanese non-profit organizations for suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Yoko Yamada","doi":"10.1111/ijjs.12138","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The number of suicides in Japan increased for the first time in 11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend is particularly high among employed women and students. The Japanese government expanded its budget for providing telephone and social network service (SNS) counseling by prefectures and non-profit organizations (NPOs). On the basis of interviews with the chairman as well as counselors of an NPO in Osaka (Japan) that has provided telephone counseling services on suicide for over 40 years, this study examines suicide and suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a particular focus on how suicidal feelings are accepted. The results clarify that people do not wish to die just because of financial troubles or health problems; rather, they have lost the meaning in their life in the conflicts between social conditions and their personal life histories. Additionally, as volunteer counselors often experience the suicide of close relatives, their empathy for a caller may be based on their experiences of being overwhelmed by the realization of the otherness of others. They do not regard the acceptance of suicidal feelings as a “job,” but act as “friends.” Although modern society conceals death and suicide cases, the key to achieving a society where no one is driven into committing suicide is to place human life and human rights first as well as to talk about suicide and suicidal feelings without making the subject taboo or an aberration.</p>","PeriodicalId":29652,"journal":{"name":"Japanese Journal of Sociology","volume":"31 1","pages":"42-55"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijjs.12138","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Japanese Journal of Sociology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijjs.12138","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1

Abstract

The number of suicides in Japan increased for the first time in 11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend is particularly high among employed women and students. The Japanese government expanded its budget for providing telephone and social network service (SNS) counseling by prefectures and non-profit organizations (NPOs). On the basis of interviews with the chairman as well as counselors of an NPO in Osaka (Japan) that has provided telephone counseling services on suicide for over 40 years, this study examines suicide and suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a particular focus on how suicidal feelings are accepted. The results clarify that people do not wish to die just because of financial troubles or health problems; rather, they have lost the meaning in their life in the conflicts between social conditions and their personal life histories. Additionally, as volunteer counselors often experience the suicide of close relatives, their empathy for a caller may be based on their experiences of being overwhelmed by the realization of the otherness of others. They do not regard the acceptance of suicidal feelings as a “job,” but act as “friends.” Although modern society conceals death and suicide cases, the key to achieving a society where no one is driven into committing suicide is to place human life and human rights first as well as to talk about suicide and suicidal feelings without making the subject taboo or an aberration.

带着自杀的感觉生活:在COVID - 19大流行期间,日本预防自杀的非营利组织
摘要日本自杀人数11年来首次上升 新冠肺炎疫情期间的几年。这一趋势在就业妇女和学生中尤为突出。日本政府扩大了由县和非营利组织提供电话和社交网络服务(SNS)咨询的预算。根据对大阪(日本)一家非营利组织主席和顾问的采访,该组织为40多人提供了自杀电话咨询服务 多年来,这项研究考察了新冠肺炎疫情期间的自杀和自杀预防,特别关注自杀情绪是如何被接受的。研究结果表明,人们不希望仅仅因为经济问题或健康问题而死亡;相反,在社会条件和个人生活史之间的冲突中,他们失去了生活的意义。此外,由于志愿咨询师经常经历近亲自杀的经历,他们对来电者的同情可能是基于他们被他人的另类意识所淹没的经历。他们不把接受自杀情绪视为“工作”,而是充当“朋友”。尽管现代社会隐瞒死亡和自杀案件,但实现一个没有人被迫自杀的社会的关键是把人的生命和人权放在首位,并在不使主题成为禁忌或失常的情况下谈论自杀和自杀情绪。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
1.90
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信