Editorial

14:59 JST, March 8, 2025

An increasing number of young people are taking large quantities of over-the-counter cold and cough medicine in an attempt to escape from their anxiety and stress. There have also been many cases in which people have taken to a hospital after attempting suicide by taking excessive amounts of medicine.

How to prevent such overdoses has become a critical issue from the perspective of suicide prevention. It is important to investigate the circumstances and causes of young people’s overdoses and to extend support.

Over-the-counter drugs are safe to use as long as one follows the prescribed dosage and usage. But if they take a large amount of the drugs, they may experience symptoms such as loss of consciousness, irregular heartbeat or liver damage, all of which can be life-threatening.

In addition,........

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