Eiji Yoshioka Division of Public Health and Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted the daily lives and social activities of people in almost all countries and regions of the world, including Japan, and has significantly impacted people's mental health. This study was conducted to elucidate the impact of the pandemic in Japan, and the results show an increase in suicides during the pandemic compared to before. And it shows that the increase in suicides is particularly pronounced among women and the younger generation.

In this study, we calculated an estimate of excess deaths by suicide during the pandemic period (April 2020 to December 2021). The term excess death refers to deaths that might not have occurred if there had not been a pandemic. In other words, the excess death is an estimate of the number of suicides that increased due to the pandemic. Excess deaths were estimated to be 1208 for males of all ages, which meant 5.8% of all suicides during the period. For women, they were 1825, and 15.4%. The number of excess deaths by age group was particularly high for males aged 20-29 (estimated excess deaths=466) and 40-49 (423) and for females aged 30-39 (421), 60-69 (396), and 20-29 (352).

In Japan, since the pandemic outbreak, the government has provided a variety of support to those in need. However, the results of this study suggest that this support may not have been sufficient, especially for younger generations and women.

The research work was published in the Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific on June 1, 2022.