Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, September 26, 1998 Major corporations suffering from poor sales, financial collapses, historically low interest rates—the recession shows no sign of ending. Anxiety levels have reached unprecedented heights. According to last year’s report by the National Police Agency, more than 24,000 people died by suicide, with a sharp increase in suicides among middle-aged and older individuals related to restructuring and the economic downturn. We may be a

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, October 3, 1998 It is estimated that there are seven million people with diabetes in Japan. Keiichi Kamoshita, who wrote Diabetes Archipelago  (published by Joho Center Publishing Bureau) based on his own experience with diabetes, points out from a civilizational perspective that the increase in diabetes correlates with Japan’s period of rapid economic growth. Diabetes is closely linked to stress. First, everyday stress can be a cause. Simply be

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition – October 10, 1998 One of the quickest ways modern people relieve stress is by having a drink and venting their frustrations. When the stress is something they’re aware of, even just this can bring considerable relief. However, turning drinking into a habit is dangerous. Not only men—these days we even hear the term “kitchen drinker” to describe women who drink while cooking. Take the example of a certain housewife. Her husband was always working

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, October 17, 1998 It is said that over 1.5 million people in Japan suffer from epilepsy, a neurological disorder that is no longer classified as a psychiatric illness in modern medicine. In the past, however, it was considered a mental illness. Even so, one might wonder why seizures or loss of consciousness were once regarded as psychiatric symptoms. There used to be a way of thinking that divided mental illness into disorders of consciousness an

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, October 24, 1998 An increasing number of people are visiting psychiatric clinics saying, “I can’t sleep,” with some even specifying the brand of sleeping pills they want. One in four Japanese people reportedly suffers from insomnia. Rising with the sun and sleeping when it sets—modern society no longer allows for such a natural lifestyle. Work and leisure eat away at sleep time as if it were wasteful. Insomnia is overwhelmingly common among midd

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition – September 19, 1998 Love, money, social status, and health—these four things are said to trigger relapses in schizophrenia. A psychiatrist named Yōichi Eguma once argued this point, and later, the idea came to be likened to a "four-leaf clover." Few people are completely indifferent to all four. Likewise, few people are completely satisfied in all four areas. Human misfortune often seems to stem from heartbreak, poverty, unemployment or demotion