The coronavirus pandemic resulted in over 8,000 excess suicide deaths in Japan between March 2020 and June 2022, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on Wednesday, citing a recent study
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) The coronavirus pandemic resulted in over 8,000 excess suicide deaths in Japan between March 2020 and June 2022, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on Wednesday, citing a recent study.
A group of researchers compared the expected number of suicides based on past trends with the actual number of suicide deaths over the given period. The team concluded that suicide mortality rose by 8,088 deaths during the pandemic.
The most affected group were women in their 20s, who accounted for the largest increase, but even younger females saw a considerable rise in suicide rates.
According to the research, the pandemic caused 1,837 suicides of people in their 20s, while 1,092 of them were women. Women aged 19 and younger accounted for 282 out of 377 pandemic-related suicides.
"Women, who have more non-regular jobs than men, tend to be more affected economically, while young people are possibly more likely to be forced into isolation due to behavioral restrictions," one of the researchers, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo Taisuke Nakata, told Kyodo.
Economic difficulties are believed to be the prime reason behind rising suicide rates in Japan, as suicide mortality tends to increase when unemployment is on the rise, the news agency said.
