Asia Braces for Spike in Suicides

Does suicides include those who were suicided ?

There is another good news on this front. There was a marked increase in number of college graduates seeking plastic surgery in Anhui Medical University First Plastic Surgery Center. There were 4.5 surgeries per day for these college graduates, about half of the daily activities in the center. There are similar increases reported in other centers too.

This is a great way to create more expenditure by Chinese, as the Chinese government orders, and will greatly enhance the marketability of these Chinese college graduates. Finally, they found something that can enhance their job seeking efforts.

There is another great piece of news. People in one sector of China has increased their income by 3500 percent between 2007 and 2008. The average take in 2007 was only 2.53 million yuan, and it was 8.84 million by 2008. The best performers were middle aged, 46 to 50 year olds. Their take averaged 15 million. Even the 36 to 40 year olds are taking in 2.36 million yuan. That's quite a pile of change.

Feeling the cold.

Today, in
my heart, there's
a delicate
sorrow; outside
a melancholy tries
to forget the
sound of a
manner that
now disappears,
while a young
bird escapes.....

Francesco Sinibaldi

Whether one likes it or not, East Asians have been more prone to take their own lives compared to other races. In bad times, the rate of suicide would always be on the rise. The current crippling economic meltdown could witness a much worse scenario.

Blame it on the culture if one wishes. To die in a dignified way would be better than to live a shameful or mentally-tortured life. But such traditional thinking and practice ought not to be ignored or continued. After all, one lives only once and life is just far too precious to be terminated that casually.

Persevere to endure whatever hardship there may be. There will surely be a way if there is the WILL.
(Tan Boon Tee)

To johnsmith9876 : I like your humor on "were suicided" by which invented by the press. You must have passed Chinese GRE.

To tanbootee: If you wanna know how Chinese think about live and death,see Olympic director's movie “To Live".

eludethecat: You are wrong. I didn't even pass Chinese elementary. Never tried. Never will.

Believing In My New Chinese Religion Of The Environment Will Redce The Cases Of Chinese Suicide.

Also The True Purpose Of Religion For Cia As Leader. PART 1.

By: Jordan C. Fan, ( 范楚漳 ) , Prophet Of Environment.

Since the beginning of civilization true Prophets like myself, who were the founders and reformers of religions, were mandated by Heaven ( 天意 ) to prophesy the fall of empires. Our purposes are to provide Divine messages and warnings to avert disasters for survival of mankind and planet:

PROPHET.................... RELIGON.................. EMPIRE.
(1) Moses..................... Judaism ....................Egyptian.
(2) Alexander the Great.... Greek Myths..........Persian Empire.
(3) Lord Buddha...............Buddhism...............Greek Empire.
(4) Jesus/St. Paul......... Byzantine Catholic............ Roman.
(5) Mohammed................Islam..................Byzantine Empire.
(6) El Cid....................Roman Catholic.......Umayan (Muslim).
(7) Martin Luther............ Protestant............Spanish Empire.
(8) Zhu Yuan Zhang........ Zen Buddhism............Mongolian(元朝).
朱元璋.....................................................
(9) Gandhi/Myself.......Hinduism/Environment......British Empire.
(10)Myself..................Environment..............American.

(note: Zhu Yuan Zhang was a Buddhist monk before becoming emperor)

I am true Prophet responsible for the Fall of the British Empire because I was born in Hong Kong which is the last major colony of the British. In addition, Princess Diana died about one month after the return of Hong Kong by Britain to China in August 1997 on my wife's birthday.

I am true Prophet for the Fall of the American Empire because I have moved to the United States and have successfully Prophesied all major disasters since then such as U.S. defeat in Korea/Vietnam, Space Shuttle Challenger, hurricane Andrew, Katrina, 9/11 and the current crash of Wall Street. For the above, I will prove on subsequent replies. I am the founder of the religion of the Environment because I am the world top Environmental scientist/engineer. I have the unique opportunity to be in the right place at the right time working on Environmental projects. Knowing the above theology in mind, let us start our discussion on religion in China.

With the opening of the Beijing Olympic, China will adopt another brand new religion into its rich culture — The Greek Mythology. People of this ancient foreign religion worshiped gods such as Zeus, Apollo, and Athena who lived in Mount Olympus. It will be a welcoming addition to China's own new religious creation of gods and goddesses of the five elements ( 五行 ) of gold ( 金 ), wood ( 木 ), water ( 水 ), ire (火), soil (土), as have been honored as China's Olympic mascots. They are five planets of our Solar System to confirm the existence of such dieties. Who can really say Chinese are not religious!

Confucianism was originated in China which should be our preferred religion. The main religious difference between China and other nations are Chinese worshiped with open minds while narrow minded foreigners such as Americans are constantly rejecting other religions. This is especially true about European attitudes toward Islam which have resulted in the Afghan and Iraqi Wars. In addition, the introduction of the Christianity to China has become an excuse for oppression of the Chinese people during the late 19 th century that the U. S. and other European countries were using their spread of religion as an opportunity to rob China of all its resources while destroying Chinese culture and Environment. Unlike those Western countries, in Chinese history new religions has always been treated as a adventure to enrich Chinese culture. On the other hand, there were religions such as some exiled Buddhist sects which were funded by Western countries to demonstrate against China. Therefore, Chinese people should avoid them.

Since the beginning of the year 2008, China has encountered numerous disasters such as the recorded southern snow storm during Chinese New Year in February and March. However snow storm of such magnitude will provide China with the much needed water for farming and industries. The Tibetan riots which have disrupted the relay of the Olympic torch that summer will only draw more supports from friendly countries. While ignorant people such as actress Sharon Stone dramatized the Sichuan earthquake as the disastrous Buddhist karma, others simply referred the earthquake as a disaster which were intend by the Environment to stop conflicts between different Chinese ethnic groups. This Supernatural disaster was also to firmly unite a nation's efforts to rescue victims. Regardless, it has always been my hope and that of the Environment for all nations to be united to achieve their common goal of security and prosperity. In addition some countries and regions, such as Mainland and Taiwan, should to reunite to gain strength to confront American aggression.

No matter what Heaven's intentions ( 天意 ) are, it will certainly come as a test of the courage and tolerance of the Great China Sons & Daughters (大地兒女). They will as usual join force to defeat all their enemies and disasters which have been so numerous in the last seven millennia of Chinese history. Hopeful when China became world leader such disasters will come to their final end. Those disasters and challenges can only make China a stronger and more united country. I urge all Chinese to put aside their complaints and differences to defeat obstacles in achieving their common goal. With the opening of the Beijing Olympic, China has surely become the undisputable leader of the entire world as mandated by Heaven (天意) and respect by all people. The following Chinese literary masterpiece has appropriately explained China current situations. It was written by my great ancestor the poet and Prime Minister Fan Zhong Yan ( 范仲淹 ) of the Sung dynasty ( 宋朝 ) wrote:

天將大任於斯人也 、 必先苦其心志 、 勞其筋骨 、 餓其体膚 、

行忽亂其所為 、 因而動心引性 、 增益其所不能

I am a JSCCP clinical psychologist and JFP psychotherapist working in Japan for over 20 years. I would like to put forward a perspective on some of the main reasons behind the unacceptably high suicide numbers Japan

Mental health professionals in Japan have long known that the reason for the unnecessarily high suicide rate in Japan is due to unemployment, bankruptcies, and the increasing levels of stress on businessmen and other salaried workers who have suffered enormous hardship in Japan since the bursting of the stock market bubble here that peaked around 1997. Until that year Japan had an annual suicide of rate figures between 22,000 and 24,000 each year. Following the bursting of the stock market and the long term economic downturn that has followed here since the suicide rate in 1998 increased by around 35% and since 1998 the number of people killing themselves each year in Japan has consistently remained well over 30,000 each and every year to the present day.

The current worldwide recession is of course impacting Japan too, so unless very proactive and well funded local and nation wide suicide prevention programs and initiatives are immediately it is very difficult to foresee the governments previously stated intention to reduce the suicide rate to around 23,000 by the year 2016 being achievable. On the contrary the numbers, and the human suffering and the depression and misery that the people who become part of these numbers, have to endure may well stay at the current levels that have persistently been the case here for the last ten years. It could even get worse unless even more is done to prevent this terrible loss of life.

The current numbers licensed psychiatrists (around 13,000), Japan Society of Certified Clinical Psychologists clinical psychologists (16,732 as of 2007), and Psychiatric Social Workers (39,108 as of 2009) must indeed be increased. In order for professional mental health counseling and psychotherapy services to be covered for depression and other mental illnesses by public health insurance it would seem advisable that positive action is taken to resume and complete the negotiations on how to achieve national licensing for clinical psychologists in Japan through the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and not just the Ministry of Education as is the current situation. These discussions were ongoing between all concerned mental health professional authorities that in the ongoing select committee and ministerial levels that were ongoing during the Koizumi administration. With the current economic recession adding even more hardship and stress in the lives its citizens, now would seem to be a prime opportunity for the responsible Japanese to take a pro-active approach to finally providing government approval for national licensing for clinical psychologists who provide mental health care counseling and psychotherapy services to the people of Japan.

During these last ten years of these relentlessly high annual suicide rate numbers the English media seems in the main to have done little more than have someone goes through the files and do a story on the so-called suicide forest or internet suicide clubs and copycat suicides (whether cheap heating fuel like charcoal briquettes or even cheaper household cleaning chemicals) without focusing on the bigger picture and need for effective action and solutions. Economic hardship, bankruptcies and unemployment have been the main cause of suicide in Japan over the last 10 years, as the well detailed reports behind the suicide rate numbers that have been issued every year until now by the National Police Agency in Japan show only to clearly if any journalist is prepared to learn Japanese or get a bilingual researcher to do the research to get to the real heart of the tragic story of the long term and unnecessarily high suicide rate problem in Japan.

Useful telephone number for Japanese residents of Japan who speak Japanese and are feeling depressed or suicidal: Inochi no Denwa (Lifeline Telephone Service)：

Japan: 0120-738-556 Tokyo: 3264 4343

Andrew Grimes

Tokyo Counseling Services

http://tokyocounseling.com/english/

http://tokyocounseling.com/jp/

http://www.counselingjapan.com