Terrible Twist in Japan Suicide Spates. By NORIKO NAMIKI. TOKYO,
May 22, 2008
Japan's recent
series of suicides took a new twist today.
A 34-year-old
farmer trying to kill himself by drinking pesticide was rushed to a hospital in
southern Japan, Wednesday night, where workers feverishly pumped his stomach in
an attempt to save his life.
But the man threw
up inside the hospital, releasing toxic fumes that sickened more than 50
people, including doctors, patients and hospital workers.
The man later died.
At least 90
hospital personnel had to be called in to help with the emergency, said Tomoko
Nagao, spokeswoman for the Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital in southern Japan.
The man's toxic
vomit contained chloropicrin, officials say, a highly volatile pesticide with a
pungent odor that can cause breathing difficulties and sometimes death when
inhaled in large amounts.
Seishi Takamura, a
doctor who treated the farmer, said he could not stop coughing after inhaling
the fumes, which smelled like chlorine, Kyodo News agency reported.
Gas Suicides Spreading
A different kind of
toxic gas suicide has made headlines recently across the country. More than 130
people have killed themselves by mixing store-bought detergent and chemicals.
The volunteer staff
at the Suicide Prevention Center in Tokyo spent this year's "golden
week" holidays in early May taking many calls from those who wanted to
kill themselves.
"We set up a
special hot line during golden week this year," said Yuzou Kato, the
director of the center, referring to the popular annual bash of four national
holidays packed into a single week. "We wanted to put a stop to the
increasing number of gas suicides, which have been spreading all over
Japan."
The Japanese
epidemic of suicides has become particularly lethal in the last year with the
introduction of a new method: mixing store-bought detergents and chemicals to
create toxic hydrogen sulfide gas. The gas almost always kills and sometimes
the victims of the poisonous fumes are passers-by or rescue personnel.
Japan's Fire and
Disaster Management Agency said 145 such suicide cases have been reported in
the last few months, killing 136 and injuring 188 others. Kato said many
callers had started to talk about this gas method in the last year.
"This is
fairly a new method of suicide, and people seem to learn about it through the
Internet," Kato said. "What is scary about this type of suicide is
the powerful gas fumes can easily kill passers-by and rescuers. As they try to
kill themselves with this type of gas, they can easily kill innocent
people."
Early this month in
northern Japan, about 350 neighbors had to seek shelter at a nearby school
playground as a 24-year-old man mixed the concoction in his house and killed
himself. The man died and his mother, who tried to help him, inhaled the gas
and became unconscious.
Last month, the
Peninsula Tokyo hotel had to evacuate guests from a few floors as one of their
guests attempted suicide by generating hydrogen sulfide in his hotel room.
Firefighters who
tried to rescue the man found a few bottles of detergent and chemicals -- all
of which can be purchased at stores. The man also left a note on a chair in his
room warning of the toxic gas in his room.
Struggling to Save Citizens From Themselves
Japan already has
one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The number of suicides reached
30,000 in 1998 and has not gone below that number for nine consecutive years.
The Japanese
government has made suicide a national concern.
According to a
recent survey by the government, one in five Japanese adults has considered
suicide. Last year, the government published its first white paper on suicide
prevention and vowed to cut the number of suicides by 20 percent in 10 years.
It also committed roughly $220 million for anti-suicide programs to help those
with depression and other mental health conditions.
The Japan
Association of Chain Drug Stores asked its 190 members to voluntarily suspend
the sales of detergents and chemicals that can be used for suicides.
The National Police
Agency has designated Web sites showing how to mix the chemicals as a source of
"harmful information" and has asked Internet providers to delete
sites or pages that contain such information.
It said many people
seem to obtain information on how to die with the gas through the Internet.
More than 50 Web sites included instructions on how to create the poisonous
gas.
"Deleting
sites or information from the Internet does not lead to a long-term
solution," said Mafumi Usui, a psychology professor at Niigata Seiryo
University. "You can tell them to ban the word 'suicide' from the
Internet, but people will find a way to use that word, maybe by substituting
another word to mean suicide."
Usui, who has been
studying suicides in Japan, said young people tend to use the poisonous gas
method because many want "an easy and less painful way to die," which
Usui calls a misconception.
"It may be
easy to mix up the chemicals but it does not necessarily kill you easily,"
he said. "There is absolutely no easy way to die."
Usui said what many
of those who attempt suicide are seeking is not necessarily death but a
solution to their problems.
"It may be
bullying, it may be loneliness, they may simply have a hard time finding a
purpose in life," said Usui. "That does not mean they want to die but
they choose death because they cannot find a solution to their problems. They
do not necessarily want to die, but if they have to die, they do not want to
suffer and they do not want to look gross or ugly."
Offering Life as an Alternative
While the
authorities grapple with the nation's high rate of suicides and try to
eliminate information on how to die, one man is trying to stop suicide by
offering people tips on how to live.
"When you
Google the word suicide, it shows all those Web sites and chat rooms that show
you how to kill one's self," said Ryuichi Okita, CEO of Posi-media in
Tokyo, a company that tackles social issues including suicides. "But no
one shows you how you can solve life issues, which can give you an option to
live."
A 31-year-old owner
of a design company, Okita said he once suffered depression.
"I did not
necessarily want to die, but I certainly wanted to disappear," said Okita.
"I wanted to disappear from everything. I luckily managed to come up with
a few solutions or alternatives to suicide such as returning to my hometown. If
you can find one solution or alternative, you may realize that death is not
your only option for a way out."
Building on that
notion, Okita created a Web site in March 2007 called Ikiteku (techniques on
living) that shows survival tips from people who once were on the brink of
committing suicide.
The Web site shows
an archive of personal accounts that are divided into eight circumstances such
as "bullying," "violence," "personal debts" and
"sickness." Under each category are the stories of people who have experience
in those fields and their solutions to life issues.
The site shows more
than 200 entries so far. It also shows survival techniques broken into seven
categories that include changing circumstances, a job or residence and learning
about legal protections available to those in debt.
"Why don't we
help people find ways to solve their issues instead of telling them not to
die," said Okita. "Emphasizing the importance of life may not really
help someone when that person will have to face a debt collector the next
morning."
Okita realizes this
may not be a panacea for suicides. He also knows what may have worked for one
person does not necessarily apply to another. "But by showing as many
examples as possible, people can choose a solution they like," said Okita
whose goal is to cut the current number of suicide by 25 percent in 18 months.
The Web site now
has more than 100,000 visitors a day. Although Okita finds this number
"encouraging," he feels his work is not over yet.
"Many people
do not know there are alternatives to death," said Okita. "If our
site can make them think a moment, it then could delay their action by one day.
You never know what difference that one day can make."
"People may
have a different view on life when they wake up next morning. They may be able
to shift their focus from dying to living."
