A Case Study of Efforts and Effects in Tacking with Recurrence Prevention of a Tragedy in a Small (Midsize) Company where an Employee had Committed Suicide

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  • Nakahara Toyoko
    Faculty of Human Sciences, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Waseda University:Quality Health Care Laboratory, Ltd.
  • Suzuki Katsumi
    Department of Health Science and Social Welfare, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University
  • Tsujiuchi Takuya
    Department of Health Science and Social Welfare, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University
  • Ono Michikazu
    Department of Health Science and Social Welfare, Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University

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Other Title
  • 従業員の自殺を経験した中小製造業A社における再発防止の取り組みとその効果
  • 症例研究 従業員の自殺を経験した中小製造業A社における再発防止の取り組みとその効果
  • ショウレイ ケンキュウ ジュウギョウイン ノ ジサツ オ ケイケン シタ チュウショウ セイゾウギョウ Aシャ ニ オケル サイハツ ボウシ ノ トリクミ ト ソノ コウカ

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Abstract

Background : In Japan, over 30,000 people per year have commited suicide in the course of 14 years since 1998. It is clear that many workers suffer from workplace stress. Mental health wellness is addressed by the industrial world yet mental health insurance coverage for individual workers is extremely difficult. The purpose of this case study is to improve the conditions of, and make changes for, the workers of a small to mid-sized company (company XYZ) whose employee had committed suicide from a psychosomatic point of view. Methods : We investigated the mental state and the workplace relationships of the eleven coworkers who were left behind by the one who committed suicide. Through interviews and participant-observer approach, the coworkers' conversational data were collected, and then analyzed by the KJ method, to reveal their relationships to each other and their socio cultural background. Two years after measures to prevent the recurrence of suicide were implemented, the coworkers were interviewed again and pre- and post-preventative measure implementation differences were analyzed. Results : Immediately after the suicide, in a social context, interviewees expressed their suffering as physical, mental, social, and existential pain. In addition to being an employee, the one who committed suicide had social roles as a father and husband. After his death, his personal financial hardship and his lack of interpersonal relationships at the workplace were revealed. Many of his coworkers were dissatisfied with company xyz's feudal culture. Their suffering, which stemmed from the work environment and business procedures, was improved by the implementation of mental health education and measures to prevent the recurrence of suicide ; this resulted in vast improvements to employer-employee relationships and their understanding of each other. They have started to care for each other and their behaviors have started to change. Discussion : It is best when industrial medical professionals take care of workers from a psychosomatic perspective. If that cannot happen, outside resources like consultants and non medical professionals, as well as the employees themselves, have the potential to improve health by carrying out a medical anthropological approach to prevent the recurrence of suffering.

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