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Over 40 Years as a Psychiatrist

It has been over 40 years since I became a psychiatrist. I decided to become a doctor at the age of 14, and decided to become a psychiatrist at the age of 20. I underwent a year of initial rotational training at Nagoya Ekisaikai Hospital, psychiatric training as a medical officer at Nagoya University Hospital, and worked at Aichi Prefectural Shiroyama Hospital, a single-specialty psychiatric hospital, for over 10 years. I then worked in psychiatric care and mental health counseling at the Nagoya University Hospital Psychiatry Department and the Nagoya Institute of Technology Health Center. After 37 years as a civil servant and two years as a clinic doctor, I unexpectedly took over the clinic.

 

A Lifelong Interest in Human Existence

Where do humans come from and where are we going? I have always been interested in the origins and future of humanity. Self and others are distinguished at the cellular and immune levels, but I am particularly interested in the human mind, one of the few living organisms on Earth that is self-aware.

Although I am merely a clinician, I have always been interested in the question, "Where am I in the brain?" - "Identity and neuroscience." Having had some involvement in the physiology and pathology of human brain waves and sleep, my research topic has become sleep psychiatry. However, perhaps this is merely a modest endeavor, only touching on a glimpse of the ambition and practice of Pierron in France and Claitman in the United States.

 

Learning from Patients

In my daily clinical practice, I learn so much from my patients. Not only do I see people suffering from psychiatric symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, lethargy, depression, hallucinations, delusions, and decreased memory, but I also see people who suffer from sleep disorders such as hypersomnia, sleep apnea syndrome, restless legs syndrome, REM sleep behavior disorder, and delayed sleep phase disorder, as well as epileptic disorders such as impaired consciousness seizures and convulsions, visiting my outpatient clinic every day.

We perform highly accurate electrophysiological tests, including electroencephalography (EEG) and repeated sleep latency testing by experienced technicians, and home sleep-disordered breathing tests for two consecutive nights. While we operate by appointment only for both initial and follow-up visits, we strive to provide detailed diagnostic testing as quickly as possible.

 

The Role of Compatibility in Medical Care

Occasionally, patients end their doctor-patient relationship due to incompatibility. In medicine, incompatibility is considered to be harmful and not beneficial. Actually, I have a colleague who is a psychiatrist who is unsociable but excels at diagnosis and treatment. In fact, I believe that friendliness can even be dangerous as it can compensate for a lack of medical skill. Therefore, even if you wish to change doctors, we may consider your treatment history and not recommend it. Also, if you have already received treatment, we cannot start treatment at our hospital without a referral letter from your doctor. Please be aware of this in advance.

 

Second Opinions and Collaborative Care

We also provide second opinions for patients currently undergoing treatment at a psychiatric or sleep clinic. We are part of the nationwide network of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research, and we cooperate with hospitals and clinics in cases where patients also have concomitant physical illnesses, as well as in cases where psychiatric illnesses require more specialized care. Because physical health and mental health are closely and inseparably linked, we strive to introduce the best doctors we know.

 

Please feel free to use our clinic.

 

May 1, 2016

Yuhei Kayukawa

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