TOKYO | Toilet paper with suicide prevention messages printed on it: this is the original initiative recently implemented in universities in the Japanese department of Yamanashi.
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“Dear you, who are having a hard time pretending that everything is fine,” reads in blue letters on these white rolls. “You don’t need to tell us everything… but why not just a little bit?”
In addition to these kinds of messages, written by a mental health specialist and accompanied by suicide prevention phone numbers, there are also soothing images on these toilet papers, such as a cat curled up in a ball.
Yamanashi authorities distributed 6,000 such scrolls to 12 local universities last month.
“You are alone in the toilet. We feel that it is in such moments that distressing thoughts can come to your mind,” department official Kenichi Miyazawa told AFP on Monday.
As in many other countries, a jump in the number of suicides has been observed in Japan with the COVID-19 pandemic which has reinforced the isolation of many people.
In 2020, nearly 500 children and adolescents killed themselves in Japan, a national record and almost twice as many as in 2016, according to the Ministry of Health.
IF YOU NEED HELP
Quebec Suicide Prevention Line • www.aqps.info • 1-866-APPELLE (277-3553)
Kids Help Phone • www.kidshelpphone.ca • 1-800-668-6868
Tel-Jeunes • www.teljeunes.com • 1-800-263-2266