Detergent suicides in Japan...

[Jed K]

Mixing laundry detergent and cleaning fluids creates toxic fumes and is being used in Japan as a popular method for suicide. There have been quite a few incidents in the news lately:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapc...index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapc...index.html

[Jed K]

Yet another incident recently:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapc...index.html

[Jed K]

And another:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapc...index.html

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[lihen]

Man this is serious, first thing that people in Japan are more prone to suicides and other thing that they now have a easy method to take their lives. What if research is made in the direction of stopping suicides psychologically...

[tsmaster]

It seems to be happening quite often. They really should make it harder for people to do this sort of thing:
1. Offer help for people who are feeling suicide
2. Not have toxic substances in things like detergents which are easy to get hold of.

[sunken]

The problem isn't just with the person committing suicide, often they take other people with them. Even if they put a sign on the door that says toxic fumes, sometimes those fumes spread to other apartments and kill others. I don't know what the solution is. The chemicals in the detergent are what makes it detergent. It would be hard to get rid of it and if you did, they'd find some other mix of chemicals that would be just as easy. You know, perhaps if they weren't glorified on the news, maybe less people would be aware that such a combination for death was even possible.

From what I've read of Japanese culture (and I'd be very interested to hear how true or false this is) is that failure is considered dishonorable and from tradition, dishonor was basically met with falling on your sword. Course maybe the method is different now, but the act is the same. Perhaps they need to have education and a culture switch that suicide is not the only answer when one feels dishonored.