Opinion

The number of suicides shows a record figure in the US.

On August 10, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the number of suicides in the US last year increased by 2.6% over the previous year, more than half of which were suicides by guns.

The suicide rate in the US in 2022 was 14.9 per 100 000 persons, a 5% increase over 14.2 per 100 000 in 2018.

Suicide is becoming increasingly prevalent especially among the elderly. In 2022, suicides among the aged over 65 grew in number by 8.1% within a year. Experts express concern about the mental health of the elderly in view of such a sudden increase.

The suicide rate of young people between 10 and 24 years of age jumped by 62% between 2007 and 2021.

According to a survey conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three high school girl students attempted suicide, 57% of whom are in a state of constant sadness or despair.

The chief medical officer of the centers said that immediate measures are necessary throughout their society to solve the problem of serious loss of lives caused by the sharp increase in suicides.

The situation in Japan is little different from that of the US.

In the country, the number of students who killed themselves exceeded 500 in 2022.

That year, 21 584 persons committed suicide in Japan, of whom more than 14 540 were men.

A family suicide recently occurred in a house in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. They included parents in their 80s and children in their 40s. They reportedly killed themselves, unable to endure the growing sufferings in their life.

"Suicide sites" have reportedly been created on the Internet in Japan and articles are posted on them to look for people who could commit suicide together, with the number of subscribers rising rapidly.

It is the reality of Japan styling itself an "advanced state" in which the 134m-high bridge has become a “noted place for suicide", not a tourist attraction, and a virgin forest has become a "suicidal forest" to top the ranking of horrible places in the social networking system.

Suicide has become commonplace in capitalist society.

The poor human rights situation in capitalist society, where people have to opt for suicide, bereft of even the elementary right to existence and hope for the future, clearly reveals the spiritual and moral corruption and true colours of the society.