Abstract

In this article, the author describes a suicide prevention program for the elderly in Japan carried out in a small town, Nagawamachi, Aomori. Because of the recent sharp increase in this town in the rate of suicides, we started to develop a suicide prevention program with the goal of trying to detect depression in its early stages. At first we adopted various questionnaires and used structured interviews, and then developed a screener for depression. Screening is an important part of our suicide prevention program, because elderly who are suicidal often do not recognize their distress is a treatable medical condition, partly due to a negative image of mental illness, and most of them do not seek medical help. The author underscores the importance of educational programs to address how to recognize the symptoms of depression and to develop a community network for the elderly to communicate with locals and support each other. It is also important to focus on a social schema to produce a society that respects "being" and not just "doing". (Keio J Med 53 (1): 1-6, March 2004)

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