In September Japan faced a reality. It was public and well-known that the country had a problem with the aging of the population, but few data dramatized the drama like the one that has just been revealed by the government with the first count of the “lonely deaths” of the year: 28,330 elderly people, and Of these, in 4,913 cases it took the police two or more weeks to recognize the death. If that information was terrible, there is something much worse.

“Care Killing.” In Japan, the crisis of “care killings”where exhausted family members end up ending the lives of the loved ones they care for, has intensified in recent years, exacerbated by forced isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2011 and 2021, 443 deaths were recorded in 437 cases of murder or suicide related to caregiver fatigue, according to a study by Professor Etsuko Yuharaa social welfare expert at Nihon Fukushi University.

In other words, Every eight days an older adult in Japan is killed by a family member who acted as his caretaker. The investigation also revealed that the perpetrators are usually spouses (214 cases) or adult children (206 cases), while the rest involve other family members, such as grandchildren or siblings.

Factors behind the crisis. The media talks about emotional, physical and financial burden of caring for a sick loved oneespecially in isolation, as one of the main causes of these tragedies. Many times, caregivers are older people who, facing their own wear and tear, become trapped in situations where they see no hope for the future.

Lack of outside support and pre-existing family problems compound the despair even further, leading some to make extreme decisions, such as murder followed by suicide.

Recent cases. As we said, the pandemic exacerbated the problem by cutting off community support networks and further stressing the Japanese health system. The case of Haruo Yoshidaan 86-year-old man who strangled his sick 81-year-old wife, reflects how extreme fatigue can push caregivers to the limit. In another incident, an 83-year-old couple was found dead in Osaka: the husband had sent a message announcing his suicide before taking his own life after murdering his wife. Or the case of Fujiwara Hiroshiwho pushed his paralyzed wife into the sea after caring for her for more than 40 years

Despair has also revived practices similar to “ubasute”an ancient custom in which the elderly were abandoned in the mountains. A recent example is that of Ichiaki Matsudawho left his 86-year-old mother in a park due to the stress of caring for her. The woman died from exposure to the cold.

In essence, a problem that only gets worse: as the Japanese population ages, More than 5.5 million Japanese require care, and almost 30% of caregivers are over 70 years old. The routine of caring for a sick loved one, with exhausting physical and emotional tasks, takes many to that unimaginable limit.

The documentary. The problem has even reached television. A NHK documentary It told, for example, the story of Shigeru, who took care of his wife Sachiko after lumbar paralysis. The daily burden of getting up at 4 in the morning, cleaning, feeding and caring for his wife consumed him emotionally. After the woman repeatedly asked him to “end her suffering,” Shigeru ended up suffocating her in an act of desperation and guilt..

There is more. In production it is also remembered Ryuichi’s shocking storya man forced to quit his job to care for his mother with dementia. Poverty, added to physical and mental exhaustion, led him to end his mother’s life and attempt suicide. Cases and more cases that reflect how caregivers, caught between cultural responsibility and lack of resources, make extreme decisions when they feel they have no other way out.

What the government says. Although the Japanese government has implemented insurance policies and systems for long-term care, these efforts do not seem sufficient to meet the growing demands of an aging society. Care facilities are unaffordable for many families due to their high costs (They usually exceed 100K yen), forcing family members to assume caregiver roles without adequate training.

Furthermore, the lack of professional personnel in the care sector, attributed to low salaries and the stigma of the professionhas aggravated the situation. Experts like Yuhara urge improve working conditions and, if necessary, open the doors to foreign workers to meet the growing demand.

Cultural impact. It is the other leg to understand the drama. In Japanese culture, as in many Asian cultures, caring for elderly parents is seen as an unavoidable moral duty. However, this cultural expectation, combined with social isolation and lack of professional support, leaves caregivers trapped in that cycle of physical and emotional exhaustion. During the pandemic, this loneliness intensified even more, depriving many of the ability to seek help or share their difficulties.

Here long-term care not only physically consumes caregivers, but it isolates them socially. The cutting of ties with the outside world, combined with possible depression and verbal or physical abuse by patients, turns care into a kind of emotional prison. In fact, it is estimated that almost 20% of these Japanese caregivers suffer from depressionaggravated by the cultural belief that caring for the elderly is a duty that cannot be waived.

No apparent solution. Thus, the phenomenon of “care killings” reflects the extent to which the structural and cultural crisis in Japanone where accelerated aging of the population, social isolation and lack of professional support are pushing caregivers to the edge.

Although the administration has taken action To confront the problem, these, there is no doubt, are insufficient given the magnitude of the crisis. If long-term solutions are not implemented, such as improving working conditions and/or greater integration of foreign workers (already happening in some sectors), all of these tragedies will continue to increase and affect both families and the Japanese social fabric. .

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