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Where you work affects your risk of dying by suicide. For example, loggers, musicians and workers in the oil and gas industries have much higher rates of suicide than the rest of the population. But on the flip side, some professions have very low rates of suicide. One of them is education. National and state data shows that educators in the U.S., including teachers, professors and librarians, are among the least likely to die by suicide. Were a team of researchers at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. We manage Arizonas Violent Death Reporting System, part of a surveillance system sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with counterparts in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. We collect data on violent deaths, including suicide, thanks to agreements with local medical examiners and law enforcement. When public health researchers like us look at suicide data, we often focus on high-risk populations to learn where intervention and prevention are most needed. But we can learn from low-risk populations such as educators too. Why some professions have higher suicide rates Over the past 25 years, the suicide rate in the U.S. has increased significantly. The age-adjusted rate in 2022 was 14.2 suicides per 100,000 people, up from 10.9 a little over two decades earlier, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Epidemiologists often adjust data for age to allow for a fairer comparison of incidence rates across populations with different age distributions. But not all populations are affected equally. For example, military veterans die by suicide at higher rates than civilians, as do men, older adults and American Indian and Alaska Natives, to name a few demographics. In 2022 the suicide rate for men, for instance, was 23 suicides per 100,000, versus 5.9 for women. The rate of suicide among the working-age population is also growing. Over the past two decades it has increased by 33%, reaching a rate of 32 suicides per 100,000 for men and eight for women in 2021. And workers in certain occupations are at higher risk of dying by suicide than others. The reasons why are complex and diverse. Workers in construction, an industry with some of the highest suicide rates, may face greater stigma getting help for mental health issues, while people in other fields such as law enforcement may be more exposed to traumatic experiences, which can harm their mental health. In short, some explanations are directly tied to ones work, such as having low job security, little autonomy or agency, and an imbalance of work efforts and rewards. Other factors are more indirect, such as an occupations demographic makeup or the type of personality that chooses a profession. Together, factors like these help explain the rate of suicide across occupations. Teachers, professors and librarians Educators, on the other hand, have relatively little suicide risk. By educators, we mean workers classified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as educational instruction and library, which includes teachers, tutors, professors, librarians and similar occupations. Nationally, about 11 in 100,000 male educators died by suicide in 2021, with the figure for women being about half that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, the rate for male workers in arts, design, entertainment, sports and media was 44.5 suicides per 100,000, and the rate for male workers in construction and extraction was 65.6. Data from our state of Arizona follows the same pattern. From 2016 through 2023, a total of 117 educators died by suicide, mostly primary and secondary school teachers. This works out to be an incidence rate of 7.3 suicides per 100,000 educators one-third the rate for all Arizona workers and the lowest among all occupations in the state. Why educators have a low suicide rate So why are educators at such a low risk of suicide? After all, educational professions certainly present their own challenges. For example, many teachers experience high amounts of burnout, which can cause physical and mental health problems such as headaches, fatigue, anxiety and depression. A good place to begin is the professions demographic composition. A disproportionately high share of educators are women or are married traits associated with lower suicide rates. Educators also tend to have high educational attainment, which may indirectly protect against suicide by increasing socioeconomic status and employability. Another factor is workplace environment. Workplaces that offer increased access to lethal means such as firearms and medications are associated with higher suicide rates. This helps explain why workers in law enforcement, medical professions and the military tend to show high rates. The comparatively low availability of lethal means in schools may help keep educators rates low. In addition, eductors workplaces, typically schools and campuses, offer rich opportunities to form strong social relationships, which improve ones overall health and help workers cope with job stress. The unique, meaningful bonds many educators form with their students, administrators and fellow educators may offer support that enhances their mental health. Finally, based on more contextual information in our Arizona database, we found that a lower proportion of educators who died by suicide had an alcohol or drug abuse problem. Alcohol or substance abuse problems can increase suicidal ideation and other work-related risk factors such as job insecurity and work-related injury. In short, educators may live a healthier lifestyle compared with some other workers. Improving worker health So, what can workers and employers in other professions learn from this, and how can we improve worker health? One lesson is to develop skills to cope with job stress. All professions are capable of producing stress, which can negatively affect a persons mental and physical health. Identifying the root cause of job stress and applying coping skills, such as positive thinking, meditation and goal-setting, can have beneficial effects. Developing a social network at the workplace is also key. High-quality social relationships can improve health to a degree on par with quitting smoking. Social relationships provide tangible and intangible support and help establish ones sense of purpose and identity. This applies outside the workplace, too. So promoting work-life balance is one way organizations can help their employees. Organizations can also strive to foster a positive workplace culture. One aspect of such a culture is establishing a sense of meaning or purpose in the work. For educators, this feature may help offset some of the professions challenges. Other aspects include appreciating employees for their hard work, identifying and magnifying employee strengths, and not creating a toxic workplace. It is worth noting that continued research on occupational health is important. In the context of educators, more research is needed to understand how risk differs between and within specific groups. Despite their overall low risk, no person or demographic is immune to suicide, and every suicide is preventable. If you or someone you know is experiencing signs of crisis, the free and confidential 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available to call, text or chat. Jordan Batchelor is a research analyst at the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. Charles Max Katz is a director of the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety at Arizona State University. Taylor Cox is a program coordinator at the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Japanese technology and entertainment company Sony logged an 18% rise in profit for the fiscal year through March on healthy results at its music and video-game operations.Its chief executive, Hiroki Totoki, outlined the company’s strategy for growth Wednesday, stressing that collaboration among Sony Corp.’s various segments, like animation and music, were crucial to deliver the “kando,” or emotional engagement, that lies at the core of the company’s vision and strength.“Building on our momentum and results to date and working with a laser-like focus to realize our long-term Creative Entertainment Vision will be at the core of our corporate strategies moving forward,” he told reporters.Sony’s movies division has strong offerings in the pipeline, including Spider-Man films and biopics about The Beatles, while animation remains a driver of growth centered around the popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll, Totoki said.Tokyo-based Sony reported a record annual profit of 1.14 trillion yen ($7.8 billion), up from 970.6 billion yen in the previous fiscal year. Annual sales were virtually unchanged, inching down to 12.957 trillion yen ($88 billion) from 13.020 trillion yen.One area that lagged among Sony’s sprawling businesses was the financial segment, where revenue stalled. But its film division and its imaging and sensor solutions segment did well.Sony officials said they were studying how to respond to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, although that was a challenge because of uncertainties and constant changes. But they said the negative impact from U.S. trade policy will be kept to 10% of Sony’s operating profit in the coming fiscal year by adjusting the allocation of shipments, among other measures.Totoki stressed that Sony plans to leverage its content creating technology, like virtual reality and image sensors, to feed into its entertainment products, including working on immersive experiences. Sony also has powerful collaborative relations with various entertainment companies like Kadokawa, which includes publishing as well as films and animation, and Bandai Namco, a video game maker, he added.Sony will emphasize the “diversity” of its workers, helping bring out people’s creative potential, Totoki said.Among the Sony movies that fared well at the box office for the fiscal year through March were “Venom: The Last Dance,” featuring the Marvel Comics superhero, and “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” an action comedy, where Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in their popular cop roles in the fourth installment in the series.Sony, which makes the PlayStation console and game software played on that machine, also posted healthy results in the gaming business.Its music operations, which also held up, include recordings, streaming services and music for games. The top-selling recorded music projects for the latest fiscal year globally was SZA’s “SOS Deluxe: LANA,” followed by Beyonce, Future & Metro Boomin and Travis Scott.The top seller in its Japan music business was Kenshi Yonezu’s “Lost Corner” album, followed by offerings from Stray Kids and Six Tones.For the January-March quarter, Sony posted a 197.7 billion yen ($1.3 billion) profit, up 5% from 189 billion yen the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. Sales were 2.6 trillion yen ($17.7 billion), down 24% from 3.48 trillion yen.Sony is forecasting a nearly 13% drop in profit for the fiscal year through March 2026, to 930 billion yen ($6.3 billion), on 11.7 trillion yen ($80 billion) sales, down 2.9% on-year.Sony Group Corp. stocks, which fell in Tokyo morning trading, rebounded to finish 3.7% higher after its financial results were announced. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist. Everyone is suffering from the heat, Yadav said. I hope they do more of this across the city. Rising heat is a problem for millions of people in India. In Ahmedabad, temperatures this year have already reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), a level usually not seen for several more weeks, prompting city officials to advise people to stay indoors and stay hydrated. And yet, coping with that heat is a familiar challenge in Ahmedabad. After a 2010 heat wave killed more than 1,300 people, city and health officials rushed to develop South Asia’s first heat action plan. The plan, rolled out in 2013 and now replicated across India and South Asia, includes strategies for hospitals, government officials and citizens to react immediately when temperatures rise beyond human tolerance. Public health officials said it’s helped save hundreds of lives every summer. City officials, with help from climate and health researchers, have implemented two simple yet effective solutions to help those affected most by heat: the poor and those who work outdoors. By painting tin-roofed households with reflective paint, they’ve reduced indoor temperatures, which otherwise might be up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than outside. More recently, the city hung curtains woven of straw and water sprinklers at one bus stop so commuters can get relief from the sun and heat. Officials said they plan to expand the idea to other bus stops in the city. Residents said both measures have been a relief even as they brace for at least three more months of sweltering summer. A simple coat of paint makes all the difference Throughout the city’s low-income neighborhoods, hundreds of tin-roofed homes have been painted with reflective paint that helps keep the indoors cooler. Residents said their houses were so hot before the roofs were painted that they would spend most of their time outdoors under any shade they could find. Earlier, it was really difficult to sleep inside the house,” said Akashbhai Thakor, who works as a delivery van driver and lives with his wife and three-month-old child in Ahmedabad. Thakor’s roof was painted as part of a research project that is trying to measure the impact of the so-called cool roofs. Early results have been promising. After the roof was painted, the house is much cooler, especially at night, said Thakor. People like Thakor are much more vulnerable to extreme heat because their houses aren’t insulated and, since most of them depend on a daily wage, they must work regardless of the weather, said Priya Bhavsar of the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, who is working on the project. Bhavsar said low-cost solutions could be the only respite for thousands of people in the city who can’t afford to buy an air conditioner. Veer Vanzara, who lives in the same area as Thakor and works in a nearby garment factory, said the heat makes his job much worse, especially since his factory has no ventilation. So his family is grateful for the cool roofs. The evenings and night are much cooler than before inside our house, he said. A bus stop that’s become an oasis from the heat In Ahmedabad’s city center, a 25-meter stretch of a bus stop has been draped with mats made of straw which, when sprinkled with water, immediately cool the hot wind. Sprinklers installed on the bus stop roof lightly spray cool water on the commuters below, providing instant relief from the blazing heat just a step away. When nothing like this was here, it was really hot. What they’ve done is really good. Senior citizens like me can get some cooling from the heat, said 77-year-old Ratilal Bhoire, who was waiting under the sprinklers with his daughter. Bhoire said when he was younger, Ahmedabad was hot, but it was still possible to walk many kilometers without feeling dizzy, even at the height of summer. Nowadays you can’t do that, he said. Heat is the city’s biggest problem and heat wavescontinuous days of extreme heatare increasing, said Dr. Tejas Shah of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, who oversees the city’s heat action plan. We are in the period of climate change, and it has already shown its effect, said Shah. Shah and other city officials said the onset of summer has become a testing time and efforts such as cool roofs and cool bus stops are reducing heat-related illness and deaths. As climate projections predict only hotter and longer summers for his city, Shah said being prepared is the only thing to do. It (the heat) needs to be addressed in the proper way,” he said. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Sibi Arasu, Associated Press
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