[quote]The government in Japan says suicides and depression cost its economy almost 2.7tn yen ($32bn; £21bn) last year.
The figures refer to lost incomes and the cost of treatment. It is the first time Japan has released such figures.
Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, with more than 32,000 people killing themselves last year. PM Naoto Kan sees it as proof of an economic and emotional downturn.
The government is setting up a task force to try to reduce the rate.
From Friday, it will run a video clip of a footballer from the J-league on its website, urging people to be more aware of the problem.
Lost income
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Decreasing suicides would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness”
Naoto Kan
Prime Minister of Japan
"Given that the number of suicides in Japan has been over 30,000 for 12 straight years, this is a problem that needs to be addressed by the entire nation," a health, labour and welfare ministry official said.
"We hope this study triggers stronger prevention measures."
The study showed that those who took their lives last year - 26,500 people in 2009 - when they were aged 15 to 69 would have earned 1.9tn yen had they worked until retirement.
Mr Kan has pointed to the suicide numbers as proof of what he believes is wrong with the country, with too many people suffering economically and emotionally.
"There are many causes of suicides. Decreasing them would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness," he said.
But attitudes to depression in Japan arguably demand equally urgent scrutiny, correspondents say.
In a country in which stoicism and consensus are highly valued, many older people in particular view mental illness as a stigma that can be overcome simply by trying harder, they say.
The use of psychotherapy to treat depression has lagged behind North America and Europe, with Japanese doctors often viewing medication as the sole answer, they add.[/quote]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11219492[/url]
They should stop censoring their porn or something
Anti-suicide task force eh?
What are they gonna do? Shoot them?
[QUOTE=Tetracycline;24675284]They should stop censoring their porn or something[/QUOTE]
Wouldn't that just make the situation more severe
Is "lost income" the same as "potential income"?
Give them candy
Maybe if Love Plus didn't sell as many copies as it did this wouldn't have happened.
:frown:
And I thought Japan was supposed to be happy.
Maybe if Japan wasn't full of 30-year-old NEETs who have formed a sexual attraction to 12-year-old anime girls, this wouldn't have happened.
They need to...I don't know, have their teenagers become more active?
Maybe they wouldn't be so depressed if they had bigger dicks.
This is what happens when you outlaw porn.
[QUOTE=Encryption;24675422]Maybe they wouldn't be so depressed if they had bigger dicks.[/QUOTE]
-snip I was pissy and tired-
[QUOTE=Jeep-Eep;24675534]Anyone who makes another racist penis joke will be reported.[/QUOTE]
Are you like the report police?
[QUOTE=Jeep-Eep;24675534]Anyone who makes another racist penis joke will be reported.[/QUOTE]
Someone feeling small?
:v:
No seriously, the gov needs to work on this.
Heh, and just when people say suicides aren't selfish.
But on the other hand, they need to find the root cause to these suicides. It's a damn waste.
Thread music:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni6o7gT4sPY&feature=related[/media]
Japan is a strange country.
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;24675592]Heh, and just when people say suicides aren't selfish.
But on the other hand, they need to find the root cause to these suicides. It's a damn waste.[/QUOTE]
We already have the root...Tiny penis jokes and censored porn.
Seriously though, why could their suicide rate be so high? I didn't think their economic situation was that bad... The only thing I can think of is overpopulation or something.
Maybe it was a matter of honor?
[QUOTE=Sottalytober;24675669]We already have the root...Tiny penis jokes and censored porn.[/QUOTE]
And dating sims
They should make sex more of a casual thing for teens
They should clone females and grow them in giant vats.
All the people at my school that wish they were Japanese are depressed and emo. They hate me a lot because I like America better than Japan.
32k suicides per year? Holy fuck!
[editline]02:16AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;24675384]Maybe if Japan wasn't full of 30-year-old NEETs who have formed a sexual attraction to 12-year-old anime girls, this wouldn't have happened.[/QUOTE]
Shut the fuck up
"Don't kill yourself or we'll pummel the shit out of you"
[QUOTE=DanTehMan;24675688]Seriously though, why could their suicide rate be so high? I didn't think their economic situation was that bad... The only thing I can think of is overpopulation or something.[/QUOTE]
thats china.. Japan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
I think Japan has such a high suicide rate because their culture conditions people to blow even tiny failures way out of proportion and people just can't take the shame associated with this.
Maybe it is because there are a lot of pedophiles, lonely fucks with no friends, losers who have sex with body pillows and faggots who collect anime figures.
[QUOTE=The Pretender;24676187]All the people at my school that wish they were Japanese are depressed and emo. They hate me a lot because I like America better than Japan.[/QUOTE]
Why would you like america? Anything but america. I mean really, it's the most generic country you could like
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