Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, February 6, 1999 Infectious disease research and psychiatry may seem unrelated at first glance. However, the brain itself can be affected by infections, and epidemics have the power to throw people into panic. In this sense, the two fields are not entirely disconnected. There was once a time when syphilis testing was mandatory for all psychiatric hospital admissions. Now that syphilis has been largely conquered, attention has shifted to AIDS-rel

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, February 13, 1999 A patient who had become a shut-in after being bullied and refusing to go to school jumped from a building in the middle of the night. In December last year, the Ministry of Education announced that Aichi Prefecture had the highest number of reported bullying incidents. Bullying takes many forms—from direct violence to slander and subtle ostracism. In cases where children are bullied at school and abused by their parents at hom

The Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, February 20, 1999 I remember visiting a psychiatric hospital back when I was a student. A gentleman with an intellectual air approached me and said, “I’m a first-class architect. I designed all the famous buildings in the city. Someday, I’ll construct something taller than the Empire State Building. Well, make sure you study hard,” and then walked away. His presence and confidence were so compelling that I wondered, “Why would such a great a

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition – February 27, 1999 When you read the Japanese word for “medicine” ( kusuri ) backwards, it becomes “risk.” Indeed, medicine is a double-edged sword. In politics and economics, trial and error is often tolerated, but in the field of medicine, that is not the case. However, if we bind ourselves to the myth of infallibility, many doctors might end up ceasing to prescribe medication altogether. In psychiatric treatment as well, medications can somet

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition, March 6, 1999 The appeal of gambling lies in the dream that one can become rich overnight. However, when people come into a large sum of money, they often squander it, and the concept of diligence vanishes from their minds. Once someone experiences the thrill of winning, even if they end up losing five or ten times their annual income, they continue to bet, clinging to the fleeting hope that they will eventually win it all back. The final destin

Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition – March 13, 1999 A medical student, Mr.M, came to consult me, saying he couldn’t sleep. I figured that for someone in their twenties to be suffering from insomnia, he must be grappling with a significant inner conflict. Mr.M had entered medical school believing, “Everyone here must be studying seriously, driven by a desire to contribute to patients.” However, what he found instead were people who, despite their oversized pride, skipped classes wi