[Awarefy Co., Ltd.]
It has been revealed that one out of every two people who have someone to talk to about their concerns has a problem that they can’t talk to anyone about. Awarefy conducts a survey on “where to go for help with worries” | Suicide Prevention Week
*Awarefy Co., Ltd.*
Press release: September 9, 2024
**
It has been revealed that one out of every two people who have someone to talk to about their concerns has a problem that they can’t talk to anyone about. Awarefy conducts a survey on “where to go for help with worries” | Suicide Prevention Week
*To coincide with Suicide Prevention Week, we conducted a survey on where to go for help with your worries. We have also updated the service. *
With the mission of “realizing a digital mental platform that supports mental health and growth,” AI
Awarefy Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director and CEO Ogawa) plans, develops, and operates the mental partner “Awarefy”
(Shinichiro) conducted a survey on “Consulting about worries” in conjunction with “Suicide Prevention Week,” and received responses from 672 people.
[Investigation background]
The period from September 10th to September 16th is the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s “Suicide Prevention Week.” The purpose of this week is to raise awareness of the importance of suicide prevention and to strengthen efforts across society to reduce suicide risk.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has formulated the “Comprehensive Suicide Countermeasures Guidelines” based on the basic philosophy of “aiming to realize a society in which no one is driven to suicide,” which includes “reducing the risk of suicide in society as a whole.” is set as one of the important goals. In line with this goal, efforts are being made to strengthen the consultation desk system in particular.
Our company provides an app called “Awareify” that allows you to consult AI about your concerns. Therefore, to coincide with Suicide Prevention Week, we conducted a survey on “where to go for help with concerns” in order to deepen understanding of suicide prevention.
[Summary of survey results]
– 76.7% of respondents have someone they can talk to about their concerns – Of these, 48.3% said they had concerns that they could not talk to anyone about.
– One in two people say, “I have someone to talk to, but I have a problem that I can’t talk to anyone about.”
– On the Aware Fire app, the number of inquiries regarding AI has tripled compared to last year. The most common time for consultations is between 9pm and 10pm.
– AI will serve as a receptacle for consultation needs that cannot be met by human support alone.
[Survey target]
– Target audience: Men and women in their teens to 70s who use the mobile app “Awareify”
– Survey method: WEB survey
– Survey collection period: August 21, 2024 to August 28, 2024
[Survey results details]
There are people you can talk to about your worries, but there are some worries that you can’t talk to anyone about.
The majority of people surveyed in this survey answered that they were suffering from worries and stress.
76.7% of respondents said they had someone they could talk to about their concerns.
Regarding the specific person they consulted about their concerns, the most common person was family (53.1%), followed by professionals such as doctors and counselors (41.0%), and friends (40.8%).
On the other hand, among those who answered, “I have someone to talk to about my worries,” 48.3% answered “Yes” when asked, “Are you currently having troubles that you can’t talk to anyone about?” ” I answered.
These results suggest that almost one in two people are in a situation where they say, “I have someone I can talk to, but I have some concerns that I can’t talk to anyone about.”
The number one reason why you can’t talk to anyone is because it’s difficult or you don’t want to talk about it.
Next, when asked why they can’t talk to anyone, the most common answer was “It’s difficult or I don’t want to talk about it” (71.8%), followed by “I don’t have a suitable person to talk to” (50.6%), ” The next reason was “I don’t think people will understand me” (51.4%).
Additionally, there are a wide range of problems that people cannot discuss with anyone, including family problems, health problems, work problems, and gender and love problems.
72.6% of people have experienced regretting asking for advice about their concerns.
Next, when asked if they had ever regretted seeking advice in the past, 72.6% of people answered “very often” or “somewhat so.” When we asked them to freely answer their reasons, we were able to categorize them into the following five main categories.
* Being disrespected/disrespected: * An experience in which your concerns or consultation details were taken lightly or not taken seriously.
Example answer)
・Even though I mustered up the courage to seek advice, my concerns were ignored.
・I was told that there are other people who are having a difficult time, and that it is even worse for me.
* Negative advice or criticism: * Experience of receiving negative reactions or criticism from the person you are consulting with. Example answer)
・Because I received predetermined advice and the opinion that I was at fault. ・Reactions such as “I care too much” and “I have this too” make people feel uncomfortable before they even share information.
* Burden/concern for the other person: * Experience of feeling like you put a burden on the other person or made them worry by consulting with them.
Example answer)
・I got fed up with the lack of answers. I just wanted to tell someone that it hurts, but I ended up putting a burden on the other person. ・Even though I just wanted them to listen to me, they ended up talking about solutions, which ended up burdening me.
* Lack of understanding or empathy/misguided advice: * Experience of not being understood or empathized by the other person.
Example answer)
・When the other person does not have the same experience as you and cannot be understood.
– Receiving inappropriate advice causes stress.
* Concerns about spreading rumors and not maintaining confidentiality: * Experiences where I felt that the contents of my consultation were not kept confidential or that there was behavior that damaged trust. Example answer)
・The content of my consultation was revealed to another person. ・I consulted with a friend openly, but our relationship subsequently deteriorated and I became worried about how my consultation would be handled.
summary
A relatively large number of people (76.7%) have someone they can talk to about their concerns, but 48.3% of them have concerns that they cannot talk to anyone about, revealing a gap.
Regarding this, at Awarefy, worries are multi-layered, and we can talk about this problem with this person, but this problem is difficult to discuss with this person.*
We believe that depending on the nature of your concerns, you may or may not have someone to talk to*.
*In other words, it is not enough just to have someone you can talk to, but it is also important to find someone to talk to depending on the nature of your concerns.* This*
For convenience, this is called the “concern consultation coverage rate”*. However, it is realistically difficult to achieve a 100% coverage rate for trouble consultations.
AI becomes an option to increase the coverage rate of trouble consultations At Awarefy, we are exploring the use of AI as an option for
consultation in order to expand the “concern consultation coverage rate”.
The interaction function with AI that our app has been providing since last year has been well received, and the number of chats per month (*) has reached 250,000 (as of July 2024), which is three times the number compared to last year. I am.
Furthermore, when we asked people about the content they consult with the app, we found that the content they consult with AI covers a wide range of topics and is not much different from the content they consult with a human.
Also, when we asked about the severity of the content of consultations to AI, we found that consultations with medium to slightly heavy content occupied the volume zone, covering everything from light content to very serious content.
On the other hand, since there may be risks associated with AI handling “very heavy content,” Awareify’s AI chat function * If specific words or highly serious content is detected, we will advise you to consider consulting with a specialist. *
In addition, the most common time of day is the night time (9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.), suggesting that consultations are received during times when it is difficult for people to respond.
To summarize the above, trouble consultation using AI is *
We believe that this service can serve as a source of counseling needs that would otherwise be left unresolved by human resources alone, and may contribute to increasing the “concern consultation coverage rate.”*
At Awarefy, we will continue to aim to increase the “concern consultation coverage rate” that would otherwise be lost through human support alone.
For serious concerns such as suicidal thoughts or concerns that require professional treatment, an appropriate human consultation center is necessary, but it is important to be able to talk to people about minor concerns immediately and to avoid letting them accumulate. In this sense, we believe that AI has the potential to be used to fill the gap in human support.
Additionally, as part of our suicide prevention measures, we have set up a list of support centers within the app to help connect you to the most appropriate contact.
*What is AI mental partner “Awarephi”*
Awareify approaches each day and increases awareness.
This is an AI mental partner app. AI mental partner Fai supports your mental health care. Equipped with various functions based on psychological knowledge such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness, it gently supports mental health and growth.
The app applies the latest AI technology and is equipped with dialogue functions that emphasize listening and empathy, as well as functions that analyze your own mental condition. In addition, there are 300 types of content necessary for mental health, such as audio guides to help you practice mindfulness meditation, study courses for different mental issues, extensive mental diagnostic functions, and
introductions to behavioral methods for dealing with stress (coping list). There is more than that.
In the future, we will actively promote collaboration with mental clinics, specialized organizations, local government consultation centers, and corporations, so that it will not only be used by individuals, but will also become an interface that promotes the realization of a digital mental platform that supports mental health and growth. I’ll come.
Awarefy service site Awarefy store page Awarefy Co., Ltd.
Awarefy’s mission is to create a digital mental platform that supports mental health and growth.
Mental partner “Awarephi”
We plan, develop, and operate. In the future, in order to create a place where people can face what they value most through Awarefy, we will not only expand the functionality of the app, but also develop various businesses in the area of mental health care.
【Company Profile】
Address: 48th floor, Shinjuku Nomura Building, 1-26-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Representative Director and CEO: Shinichiro Ogawa
Business content: Planning, development, and operation of the digital mental platform Awarefy
URL: https://www.awarefy.com/
[Contact information regarding this matter]
Awarefy Public Relations: Sekiguchi
Email: press@awarefy.com
At Awarefy, what is cognitive behavioral therapy? A web media that allows you to easily understand and put into practice* “Cograbo (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Lab)”*. We publish articles that help you learn and practice cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as interview articles with mental health experts.
WEB media “Coglabo”