Citation

Sakisaka K. BMC Res. Notes 2018; 11(1): e553.

Affiliation

National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Japan Support Center for Suicide Countermeasures, Tokyo, Japan. sakisaka@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s13104-018-3672-3

PMID

30075822

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We sought to (1) measure survival lengths after the onset of the main reason for the target's suicide, (2) identify the highest-risk groups and the contributors to early death, in Japan, and (3) clarify peculiar traditional Japanese values concerning suicide.

RESULTS: Data for 523 deceased individuals (median age 43.0 years) were collected from bereaved persons. Average survival time from the onset of the main reason for suicide was 1956 days (5.4 years). After controlling for confounding factors, being middle-aged, male, self-employed, and a founding company president were identified as the highest-risk groups. Half of the self-employed founding presidents died within 2 years. Many of the bereaved had observed some signs of the suicide 2 weeks ago. The traditional Japanese idea is that one means of compensating for a serious mistake is to commit suicide, and we observed that many Japanese people still regard suicide as a respectable death, even among the interviewed. The possible intervention time is quite limited; however, those who have contact with the high-risk groups should be alert to behavioral changes or signals of impending suicide.

Language: en

Keywords

Asia; Japan; Male; Suicide; Survival times; Work-related suicide