<figure id="attachment_210544" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-210544" style="width: 5760px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="86189d29"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/10/aflo_26213658.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-210544" class="wp-caption-text">Free time after retirement can be a disaster for elderly couples (Photo: Image) (Image: Afro)</figcaption></figure>
 Here Over the past 20 years or so Did you know that the rate of alcoholism among the elderly has been on the rise for the past 20 years?
 90s In the 1990s, the percentage of alcoholics among In the 1990s, the percentage of alcoholics aged 65 and over was in the single digits. In the 1990s, the percentage of alcoholics aged 65 and over was in the single digits. In the 1990s, the percentage of alcoholics over 65 was in the single digits. In the 1990s, the percentage of alcoholics over the age of 65 was in the single digits, but now it is about 20%.
 Many of the problems that occur in the homes of elderly couples due to alcohol abuse are serious. Not only does this lead to the breakdown of the marriage and deterioration of health, but it can also lead to elder care and even cause incidents.
 Let&#8217;s take a look at a case of murder caused by alcoholism among the elderly.
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 In Chuo Ward, Chiba City Chiba City. The house is about 30 years old. Noriko Matsumoto (pseudonym, person&#8217;s name is the same as below), who would later become the perpetrator of the incident, was living in the house. At the time of the incident 67 years old at the time of the incident. years old at the time of the incident), who would later become the perpetrator, and her husband Kazuaki (65 years old). Age 65 (67 years old at the time of the incident) and her husband Kazuaki (65 years old).
 They were 70 years old. in 1970. 22 years old years old and 20 years old. They met and married in 1970 when they were 22 and 20 years old. The husband, a serious man, worked at a machine maintenance company, while the wife, a sociable woman, worked at a nearby supermarket. For about 30 years. They had two children, a boy and a girl. They had two children, a boy and a girl.
 They had two children, a boy and a girl. The family got along well, and even after the children became independent, they still came to visit each other and exchanged emails with emoticons.
 When they reached their 60th birthday, they had a series of health problems. Noriko underwent surgery for stomach cancer, and then Kazuaki was diagnosed with diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver. Even so, they tried to overcome these problems hand in hand. In the eyes of their neighbors, they appeared to be the picture of a happy couple.
<h2> They had a lot of free time on their hands, and from daytime &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
 However, when Kazuaki reached the age of retirement, things suddenly started to look bleak. While his wife was working part-time, Kazuaki had too much free time on his hands and started to drink heavily during the day. Because of his chronic illness, Noriko repeatedly warned him not to drink, but when he came home in the evening, he was always drunk.
 Over the next few months, Kazuaki&#8217;s behavior and words began to change in a number of ways, including memory problems. For example, he would sometimes go to his old workplace to work part-time, but he would drive drunk and not make it to the office, or when his family searched for him after being told that he had not shown up for work, he would stop the car and drink on the way. When the family searched for him, he would stop the car on the way to work and drink. When questioned, he would forget that he had even gone to work.
 Soon, Kazuaki&#8217;s limbs began to shake and he began to sweat even in cold weather. He lost his footing and was incontinent of urine and feces many times in the house. In desperation, Noriko put away all the liquor on the shelves, but he still seemed to be drinking in secret. When she searched the house, she found liquor in the back of the closet, under the mattress, and everywhere else.
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 15 On March 3, 2006, we had a family meeting and decided to take Kazuaki to a mental hospital. The doctor said the following.
 &#8220;You&#8217;re an alcoholic. It&#8217;s Korsakoff&#8217;s syndrome.
 Korsakoff&#8217;s syndrome is a central nervous system disorder that is also seen in alcoholics. When it is acute, the symptoms include hallucinations, malnutrition, and memory loss. Other physical symptoms were also severe, and blood and urine tests showed dangerous values.
 &#8220;The symptoms are so serious that I think it would be best to hospitalize him right away. I think it would be better to admit him to the hospital right away. We&#8217;ll keep him there for about three months, and when he shows signs of improvement, we&#8217;ll discharge him and switch him to home therapy.
<h2> Lying about running an errand</h2>
 I was admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital. There was nothing in the isolation ward to prevent self-harm, and she couldn&#8217;t even flush the toilet by herself. Noriko felt sorry to be confined in such a place, but all she could do was hope for her recovery.
 During his stay in the hospital, Kazuaki expressed his anxiety over the inconvenience of living in the isolation ward, appealed for discharge, and when this was not possible, he would say and do things that annoyed the nurses. She lied about her business at home, tried to sneak out of the hospital without being seen, and tried to bribe the nurses.
 He also complained to Noriko, who came to visit him every day. &#8220;She also complained to Noriko, who came to visit her every day. &#8220;It&#8217;s painful to be confined,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I&#8217;m walking with a walker, but the nurses just walk away. &#8230;&#8230; The food is very bad.
 When Noriko asked him to stay in the hospital, Kazuaki became furious.
 &#8220;When Noriko asked him to continue her stay in the hospital, Kazuaki became furious: &#8220;You&#8217;re working with the hospital to keep me out, aren&#8217;t you?
 These violent words were chipping away at Noriko&#8217;s heart.
 In April, about a month after her hospitalization April 24 On April 24, about a month after her admission to the hospital, there was trouble at the hospital. Kazuaki borrowed a screwdriver from a nurse, saying he wanted to fix his glasses, and then tried to escape by undoing the window stopper and jumping down. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, but when Noriko rushed to the scene, she was met with the cry of &#8220;I want to go home! &#8220;I want to die! I want to go home! When Noriko rushed to the hospital, she found him shouting, &#8220;I want to go home!
 &#8220;I&#8217;m going to discharge him. I&#8217;ll do my best from now on.
 The doctor agreed, as if to say good riddance. This was the beginning of the tragedy.
<h2> &#8220;You&#8217;re watching me!&#8221;</h2>
 Noriko took Kazuaki back to her home in Chiba City, which meant she would have to care for him alone. Kazuaki was still incontinent and had memory problems.
 The doctor&#8217;s proposal for his post-discharge life was harsh. He would not be allowed to go shopping alone. He had to eat 1400 The daily diet should be limited to 1400 kilocalories. He was not to be allowed to drive a car. &#8230;&#8230; I&#8217;m not sure what to do. Kazuaki was deprived of entertainment.
 Noriko was a devoted caregiver. She read a recipe book and worked hard all day long. 1,400 She tried her best to keep her meals to 1,400 kilocalories per day by reading recipe books.
 &#8220;Father, I&#8217;m sorry the food doesn&#8217;t taste very good. I&#8217;m not used to making this kind of food. I&#8217;ll study harder from now on.
 However, Kazuaki&#8217;s attitude was cold. Every time he ate, he would say, &#8220;It&#8217;s not good&#8221; or &#8220;I can&#8217;t eat it. When Noriko made a gesture to check on him, he would swear, &#8220;Are you watching me?
 The hardest part was when he told her he wanted to die. The more Noriko cared for her body, the more desperate her husband became, and the more his death wish grew. &#8230;&#8230; The more Noriko cares for her husband, the more he despairs and the more he desires death. She felt as if she was driving her husband crazy.
 In the midst of all this, Noriko became increasingly sick at heart and fell asleep more and more often. Even when she was fine, she would not be able to stand for more than a few minutes or her memory would be disrupted. She must have been experiencing depression-like symptoms. Of course, Kazuaki was unaware of this and continued to be selfish.
 In April, less than a week after leaving the hospital April 29 On April 29, less than a week after leaving the hospital, something unbelievable happened to Noriko. She was lying on the sofa bed, feeling unwell, when she noticed that Kazuaki was nowhere to be found. When she looked in the garage, she found that Kazuaki had been drinking in secret and was drunk. Noriko said.
 &#8220;Dad, you finally drank. &#8230;&#8230; I&#8217;m sorry.
 Kazuaki reopened the door and said.
 &#8220;You&#8217;re an asshole!
 &#8220;But you said you wouldn&#8217;t drink at the hospital, didn&#8217;t you?
 &#8220;Yeah, that time!
 Noriko&#8217;s shoulders slumped as she realized that all her efforts had been for naught.
 On that day, Kazuaki continued to drink as if he were regaining his composure, and fell asleep drunk. Noriko was left in the kitchen, her heart filled with anxiety about the future. If things continued as they were, the alcoholism would recur and her urine and blood test results would regress. The dementia-like symptoms would progress and the incontinence would get worse. It would be impossible for her to take care of her husband by herself.
 However, if we increase the surveillance, he will try to steal alcohol. If he were to be arrested or hospitalized again, he would commit suicide. If he does, he will not only cause trouble for his children, but also for his grandchildren.
<h2> &#8220;Let&#8217;s die together. &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
 Noriko was thinking of all the things that could go wrong in her mind. She was so overwhelmed that she could no longer think calmly.
 How long had passed before she heard a noise coming from the bathroom? Noriko was worried, so she went there and found Kazuaki in trouble, unable to put on his pants and underwear after doing his business. It was like an old man with advanced dementia.
 Noriko approached him and helped him up his pants and pants. When she looked at his face again, she saw that Kazuaki&#8217;s face was expressionless and lifeless. Noriko murmured.
 &#8220;I&#8217;m not sure what to do, but I&#8217;m going to do it. &#8230;&#8230; I don&#8217;t know.
 Kazuaki&#8217;s face was expressionless as he let out a breath that smelled of alcohol.
 &#8220;I&#8217;m fine.&#8221;
 Kazuaki walked to the living room and started to watch TV. Noriko asked Kazuaki again.
 &#8220;Noriko asked him again, &#8220;Dad, when you said we were going to die together, you meant it, didn&#8217;t you?
 &#8220;Yes.
 &#8220;I love you, Dad. &#8230;&#8230; I like you.
 &#8220;I like you too.&#8221;
 Kazuaki left the room and headed for the bedroom. These were the last words that the couple exchanged.
 From this moment on, Noriko could hardly remember her actions. She seemed to have stayed in the living room until dawn without sleeping a wink. The words &#8220;Let&#8217;s die, let&#8217;s die&#8221; kept echoing in her head. He was haunted by thoughts of death.
 The next memory was when she was standing in her bedroom on the first floor. She stared at Kazuaki for a while as he lay on the futon. Then she wrapped the electric cord around her husband&#8217;s neck a couple of times and squeezed as hard as she could. Her husband moaned, &#8220;Ugh,&#8221; but eventually stopped breathing.
 Dad. I killed him. I have to go after him too.
 Noriko took her hand off the cord, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and went to the bathroom. She stabbed herself in the left wrist with the knife. Fresh blood spurted out with heavy pain. Suddenly, she was worried that her husband was really dead. She held her bloody arm and went to the bedroom again.
 On the bed, Kazuaki was lying with an electric cord wrapped around him. She put her ear close to him and saw that he was breathing faintly. Noriko summoned her last strength and wrapped the cord around her husband&#8217;s neck again and pulled. When she checked again, her husband had stopped breathing.
 I have to keep my promise to your father. I have to keep my promise to my father.
 Noriko turned back to the bathroom and stabbed the same left wrist with the knife again, right across the throat. Noriko collapsed on the bathroom floor, but for some reason she did not lose consciousness for any length of time. Eventually, her whole body was covered with unbearable pain. She tried to kill herself again, but her body was too weak.
 I can&#8217;t die like this. &#8230;&#8230; I&#8217;m so sorry. Maybe your father is telling you to stop. &#8230;&#8230; I don&#8217;t know what to do.
 Noriko thought about this and called her eldest son on her cell phone. It was 7:05 am. Noriko said in an incessant tone, &#8220;I killed my father.
 &#8220;I killed my father. &#8230;&#8230; I stabbed myself too. I also stabbed myself. &#8230;&#8230; I stabbed myself too.
 The eldest son guessed that she had tried to commit suicide and immediately called the police.
 A later investigation revealed that Noriko&#8217;s left wrist had a 3 cm wide 3 cm wide and 5 mm deep. 3 cm wide and 5 mm deep. The wound on Noriko&#8217;s left wrist was 3 cm wide and 5 mm deep, with a blood vessel popping out and a severed tendon. There was also a 2.5 cm stab wound on the front neck, a life-threatening laceration.
 Kazuaki was found in his bedroom on the first floor. He was lying on his back with an electric cord wrapped around his neck.
 It was a sad case of forced suicide caused by alcoholism, the end of elderly care. At the trial, the judge handed down the following sentence.
 &#8220;Three years imprisonment, five years suspended.
 Noriko was spared the prison sentence and returned to the house alone, without her husband.

 Born in Tokyo in 1977. Nonfiction writer. Graduated from Nihon University College of Art. He is active in reporting and writing about culture, history, and medicine in Japan and abroad. His books include "The House of the 'Demons': Parents Who Kill Their Own Children," "Forty-three Killing Intentions: The Depths of the Kawasaki Jr. 1 Boys' Murder Case," "Rental Child," "Kinship Murder," and "Social Map of Disparity and Division.

 Kota Ishii

 Afro

 This is an incident that should not be confused with others. It is a tragedy that struck an elderly couple in their retirement years. The tragedy struck an elderly retired couple, who had too much free time on their hands. Why did the couple try to commit suicide? Non-fiction writer Kota Ishii looks into the sad background.

The “tragic background” of a couple in their 60s who committed suicide after becoming dependent on alcohol.

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