Japan Earthquake Aftermath Raises Suicide Fears

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Japan Earthquake Aftermath Raises Suicide Fears

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/25/japan-earthquake-aftermat_n_853429.html



It's a trickle she (Naoko Sugimoto, head of a national suicide support group, "Izoku Shien") fears may soon become a river: the farmer who hanged himself, distressed about a cabbage harvest ruined by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant; the overworked government worker near the complex who took his life; the father who killed himself after a fruitless search for his child after the tsunami.

As Japan rebuilds from the March 11 disaster, public health officials worry that a lingering sense of hopelessness among those affected might lead to a surge in suicides in a nation already coping with one of the developed world's highest rates of self-inflicted deaths. They have created suicide hotlines, pumped more money into therapy programs and sent more suicide counselors into the field as they wait and worry.

In the coming months, as those displaced by the quake and tsunami seek to move on with their lives, the true gravity of the disaster will slowly sink in for many, say government officials, aid organizations and mental health workers.

Some who have lost homes, family and friends probably will ask: "What do I have to live for?"

[Chris_Texas]

1. UP!!!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Appears the Japanese are acting to head off potential suicides.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. It is heart breaking.

[Chris_Texas]

4. You need to use the word radiation in your title.

[seabeyond]

5. so sad so sad SO sad. all of it is horrible and unimaginable. nt

[hayu_lol]

7. Someone wanted 'radiation' included in the title...

there are some 40,000 dead or missing people plus livestock and plants. Homes, plans, futures, dreams and memories are forever gone--wiped clean from the earth.

Radiation is just a smidgeon on top of this.

[seabeyond]

8. the horrors of all of it

even before the whole radiation issue came up. i could not begin to understand how they must feel

i agree

[Chris_Texas]

9. That was my point.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Those people have to cope with a lot

Destroyed homes and communities, losses of family members/friends/pets, frequent aftershocks, life in shelters...
That would be a lot for anyone to try to deal with.