Abstract
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare's White Paper on Countermeasures for Suicide, the suicide death rate by age group has shown a steady downward trend since 2009 for other age groups, while the rate for teenagers has remained flat or slightly increased. The situation is even more serious when limited to children, where the rate has consistently increased while the total number of suicides has continued to decline. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's “Suicide Statistics and Basic Data on Suicide in Local Communities, ” the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who committed suicide in 2020 increased by about 30 % from the previous year, and the number of high school girls in particular doubled over the previous year, and has remained high ever since. In this paper, we focus on self-injury and over-the-counter drug abuse/dependence often seen in teenagers, and first discuss the principles of understanding and responding to these issues, as well as our personal views on the desirable attitude of supporters who accept SOS from children, and how substance abuse prevention education and suicide prevention education should be provided.
