Physical Health Japan Project #39412

Prevent Youth Suicides In Japan

by TELL

Project Report | Dec 26, 2019
December Activity Report

By Vickie Skorji | Lifeline Director

Dear Friend,

It was a very busy Fall for TELL and we are eager to update you on all that we have been doing here in the community. Our expanding team has been reaching more people than ever by providing workshops, face-to-face counselling and by continuing to have our crucial crisis support Lifeline and chat service.

As part of World Mental Health Day, TELL & together with Juri Watanabe (Miss Kyoto in this year's Miss World Japan competition), asked for people to be part of our #GiveHeartsforLife campaign. This campaign encouraged people around the country to write words of support and encouragement to those struggling with mental health issues using the hashtag#GiveHeartsforLife and to share these messages with TELL’s social media platforms (@telljapan) throughout the month of September & October.

TELL also celebrated Stress down week with workshops, yoga, and mindfulness activities, and in October around 200 people proudly walked with TELL in the Osaka Pride march, around 60 people marched with TELL and Stonewall in Kyushu. In November TELL made noise about domestic violence and child abuse survivors, men’s mental health and the importance of volunteers.

Our Fall 2019 support training had over 50 applications and 40 volunteers were accepted into the program. At the start of December 31 volunteers had graduated from the online portion of the training and are working through their protocols before taking shifts on our line. We hope in February/March to have around 120 - 130 volunteer support workers and to extend our chat service hours.

Sadly the number of bullying incidents and child abuse continue to increase in Japan placing an increasing number of youths at risk. Last year 164,528 students were absent from school for more than 30 days, a record high. Many of the students cited bullying as the main reason they no longer wanted to attend school. In Yamaguchi, a female student attempted suicide earlier this month, following months of repeated bullying, despite bringing the incidents to the school officials. The police and the education board are now investigating the situation, but sadly there too many similar situations occurring across the country placing increasing numbers of youths at risk.

At TELL, we believe that there is a more pressing need than ever before to provide a safe space for young people who are struggling. The international community in Japan continues to grow, and with the Rugby happening this Fall and the Olympics around the corner, we continue to push toward our funding goal of a 24-hour Lifeline.

We hope you will consider supporting our project and work in Japan.

Your donations matter and can make a real difference in a young person’s life.

Saving lives is a community effort. Will you help us?

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Sep 24, 2019
September Report

By Vickie Skorji | Lifeline Director

Suicide Prevention Walks

Dear Friend,

It has been several months since our last report and I wanted to give you an update on our activities over the past months. TELL has been busy delivering workshops, providing face to face counseling and running our crisis support Lifeline and chat service. During this time we trained 28 potential support worker volunteers in our Spring 2019 training in which 16 people graduated to our Lifeline and have begun taking solo calls and chat shifts. For our Fall 2019 training, we have received over 60 applications and we hope to train 40 volunteers.

We have delivered 18 workshops in Tokyo, Kansai, and Okinawa, on a wide range of topics from mental health in the workplace, to communicating with teens, cyberbullying, and sexual harassment in the workplace just to name a few. We also marched in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride Festival, making noise about youth LGBTQIA mental health issues and handing out information cards and resources to over 1000 people. On May 30th we held a free screening of the BBC documentary ‘Japan’s Secret Shame’ and in July in conjunction with WeWorks & McCanns, we celebrated Stress Less Day with a range of free workshops and mediation activities.

For World Suicide Prevention Day we held our 3rd Tokyo Tower Climb, in which 500 people took on the challenge to climb the tower in awareness of suicide prevention. We also held Suicide Prevention Talkie Walkies, in Sendai, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, & Nagoya.

As part of the global call for action to prevent suicides, the WHO, stressed that young people are especially vulnerable and that more than half of all those who commit suicide are under the age of 45. And among 15-29-year-olds, suicide is, in fact, second only to road accidents as the leading cause of death. Here in Japan, the 2018 White Paper, reported that youth suicides hit an all-time high in 2018, in which family-related matters such as discipline issues or bad parental relationships were major factors for elementary and junior high school students. For high school and university students, poor academic performance and worries about the future were major risk factors.

Providing support in a manner young people prefer, and allowing them a safe space to talk through their concerns is vital. As we work towards our funding goal, TELL will continue to break down the barriers and fight against the stigma surrounding mental illness in Japan.

We hope you will consider supporting our project and work in Japan.

Your donations matter and can make a real difference in a young person’s life.

Saving lives is a community effort. Will you help us?

Stress Down Workshops

Screening Japan's Secret Shame

Tokyo Tower

Give hearts For Life

Tohoku Suicide Prevention Walk

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Jun 13, 2019
June Report - Saving Lives is a Community Effort

By Vickie Skorji | Lifeline Director

Tokyo Pride Festival

Earlier this year, we came to you with a funding request to support our efforts in preventing youth suicides in Japan. We are asking for your support in helping us to train more volunteer support workers for our Lifeline and Crisis Chat support service so we can increase our hours of service and support to young people in crisis.

We wanted to give you an update on the situation in Japan and our activities over the past few months. In 2019, the Japanese government announced that suicide is now the leading cause of death for young people aged 10 to 14 years of age, the highest number since the postwar period. With 50% of all mental illnesses having their onset before 14 years of age and 75% by 24, awareness and education highlighting what mental illness looks like and how to best support a young person is vital. Sadly in March this year, two 12-year-old girls jumped together to their death due to bullying, because of the stigma, lack of services and understanding surrounding mental health issues in Japan.

As we work towards our funding goal, TELL will continue to break down the barriers and fight against the stigma surrounding mental illness in Japan. In April TELL marched in the Tokyo Pride Festival and handed out information about crisis support for LGBTQIA+ youths. TELL also held numerous school awareness presentations across the country speaking to students about our services and mental illness. In May TELL screened the BBC documentary ‘Japan’s Secret Shame’ followed by a panel discussion on support services for survivors of sexual violence in Japan and on September 8th TELL will hold its 3rd Tokyo Tower Climb as part of our World Suicide Prevention day activities.

We hope you will consider supporting our project and work in Japan. Your donations matter and can make a real difference in a young person’s life. Together we make a difference, will you join TELL in our fight for zero suicide in Japan.

School visit

Tokyo Tower Climb 2019

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