Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported that Japan’s National University Health Management Facility Council and Mental Health Committee survey showed that among the 433,032 university students from 82 national universities, 76 people (58 males and 18 females) died of suicide or suspected suicide. The suicide rate was 17.6 per 100,000 students (21.2 males and 11.3 females), a record high in 6 years.
Professor Bustyko, director and professor of the Ibaraki University Health Management Center, who is responsible for the investigation and analysis, said that online teaching allows students to reduce opportunities to communicate with friends, and economic problems caused by the inability to go out to work, are important factors to increase the risk of suicide.
Affected by the recession caused by the Lehman Brothers financial turmoil in the United States, the suicide rate of Japanese college students in 2008 was as high as 21.3 per 100,000 students.
