EDITORIAL: Hydrogen sulfide deaths

There seems no end in sight to the recent spate of suicides by lethal hydrogen sulfide gas. In April alone, more than 50 people killed themselves that way. This must stop. What started the sad situation were postings on the Internet detailing how to make hydrogen sulfide gas and use it for suicide. After that information spread, there was a sudden spike in suicides by this lethal method among people, many of them still young, who felt overwhelmed by their problems.

The situation is very grave because people trying to save the victim and people living nearby may also inhale the gas, and could also be killed.

In some cases, members of the suicidal person's family also died of the gas, and people living in the same apartment complex were rushed to hospital. In some cases, the person trying to die stuck a notice on the door that warned, "Hydrogen sulfide being generated." But that alone is not enough to protect others from harm.

Gassing oneself is an extremely dangerous act that can also kill innocent bystanders. People living nearby the recent suicides were forced to evacuate.

Society must do more to discourage this type of suicide--and one obvious way is via the Internet.

The Net is a convenient communication tool, but it also contains many dangers. Simply reading a posted comment detailing an easy way to end it all could well push a suicidal individual over the edge. After Internet postings about how to use burning charcoal to commit suicide, a number of people began taking their lives using that method.

This is exactly why sites allowing such posts should be closely monitored and the messages deleted wherever possible.

The National Police Agency is taking steps against descriptions of how to generate hydrogen sulfide. The information is deemed "harmful," and Internet service providers and others have been instructed by police to delete any such postings. But because of the wide proliferation of the information, it is unlikely police will be able to remove all cases. Still, the gravity of the situation demands urgent action.

At the same time, more websites are needed to offer advice to suicidal people or to help them find someone to talk to. Thus, anyone searching the Net for tips on how to die could instead be led to a site that would help them live on.

Obviously, such measures won't be enough to lower suicide numbers significantly. Efforts must start at home or at work, and between friends. We all need to be sensitive to the feelings of the people around us, watching their faces and body language and listening to their words for any signs of serious trouble.

Deeply depressed people tend to be too agitated to make rational judgments. But if a sympathetic person tells them they don't have to suffer alone, they may think twice before they take that final step.

Drugstores sell the items used in such suicides. If a customer seems possibly suicidal, sales clerks should ask the customer exactly what he or she intends to use the items for.

More than 30,000 Japanese die in suicides every year. In addition to prevention steps already in place, new strategies are needed in this Internet age to end this tragic waste of human life.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 1(IHT/Asahi: May 2,2008)