Health Ministry Survey: 15% of Japanese women between the ages of 20 and 24 cut themselves
Some pretty disturbing statistics have been released by Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry:
One in seven women aged 20 to 24, or 15 percent of them, have injured themselves in such ways as cutting their wrists, according to a survey of a research team at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry released Monday.
“We cannot deny the possibility that pessimism has become a prevalent mood among young women particularly and that bitter feelings about society have caused them to harm themselves,” said Kunio Kitamura, head of the Japan Family Planning Association Clinic, who took charge of the survey.
[...]
For women aged 20 to 24, 11 percent said they had injured themselves several times, 4 percent said they did so just once and 25 percent said they had thought about doing so.
Among men in the same age bracket, 5 percent had injured themselves.
While self-injury is definately not a problem isolated to Japan, I find it interesting that this survey has found it to be most common in the 20 to 24 age group (Self-injury is commonly associated with teenagers in western countries such as the United States). Perhaps it is less of a problem among Japanese teenagers, or the teenagers who took the survey were less willing to answer truthfully?
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I wonder if the age difference has to do with the difference in culture whereby teens in the U.S. feel lost and hopeless at an earlier age than young Japanese people. Most Japanese teens have a focal point and concrete short-term goals then they graduate from college and get into jobs they may find disappointing at which point they find themselves a bit lost sometimes. It may be worse for women because they have less fulfilling jobs by and large.
Ah, how sad.
Ah, it is sad news.
I think this survey indicates that what may have been perceived as a female problem clearly is not. Self-injury statistics are increasing worldwide. Additional research should be done in order to identify some common root causes that are not limited to geographic or cultural boundaries. Once a problem like this is identified, a strategic plan for education and treatment can be created.