Last year saw more women, but fewer men, take their own lives in Japan. For women there, the pressures of Covid-19 have been compounded.

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As Pandemic Took Hold, Suicide Rose Among Japanese Women

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Last July, Nazuna Hashimoto, who suffered from depression, started having panic attacks. She’d stopped working during the pandemic and felt guilty for depending financially and emotionally on her boyfriend. Seeing no way out, she tried to kill herself.  https://t.co/LMxV450FYf

2/Her boyfriend found her and saved her life. She is speaking out publicly to help other women, and to reduce the stigma associated in Japan with mental illness.

3/In Japan, the rising psychological and physical toll of the pandemic has been accompanied by a worrisome spike in suicide among women, up almost 15% last year. This was the first increase in over a decade.

4/The situation has reinforced longstanding challenges for Japan. Talking about mental health issues is still difficult in a society that emphasizes stoicism. During the pandemic, women also fear public humiliation if they somehow fail to uphold coronavirus protection measures

5/Many women have struggled with disparities in housework and child care during the work-from-home era, or suffered from a rise in domestic violence and sexual assault.

6/They have faced disproportionate job losses: In the first nine months of last year, 1.44 million part-time or contract workers lost their jobs, more than 1/2 of them women.

7/After Ms. Hashimoto’s suicide attempt, she &amp; her boyfriend developed an app to connect people with therapists. “The country has mainly focused on moving women up the career ladder,” she said. “I would like to emphasize women’s mental health.”

8/If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). In Japan, contact TELL Lifeline at 03-5774-0992 or https://t.co/KL50Y5tDqZ, or go to the Japanese-language site https://t.co/yZm0jzHoI3.

Motoko Rich

The New York Times

@motokorich @nytimes Trigger warning please

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リッチ 素子 NYT Tokyo bureau chief. Typos are human. Coffee books & chocolate always. Wakimaenai onna She/Her richm@nytimes.com. Instagram @motokorich

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A thief may harm a thief; an enemy may harm an enemy; but a wrongly directed mind can do oneself far greater harm.

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