An unhealthy mentality is something all people will eventually experience at some point in their lives. The first thing many people might think about when hearing the word mental health is major mental health disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, addiction, eating and anxiety disorders. A common unhealthy mentality many people do experience, even on a monthly basis is stress. Yes, stress is a common hormone which makes us human, however it is never good for both your mental and physical health too experience too much stress. Issues with mental health is becoming more recognized across the globe, however there is one country that has yet to acknowledge its negative impact on people’s lives and has a government which is not encouraging people to get help. That country is Japan.
Although, mental health support professionals such as psychiatrists and psychologists are not a common practice in Japan, they do still exist. Japanese companies are quite known for pushing their employees to overwork to a point, in which many develop mental illnesses. Furthermore, thousands of Japanese employees decide to commit suicide because of the pressure as well (Kettenhofen, 2022). It is quite surprising many companies do not ponder on how to solve this issue of mental illness and possible suicide of their employees, instead many companies will deem their employees for being “weak” if they cannot handle the workload. Nevertheless, that is why it is important to support the issue of mental health across the globe as eventually, Japan will jump on the train as well.
If you are a prospective student reading this blog post, worried about your mental health if you move to Japan, then hopefully this post can help you a little bit. More universities in Japan are acknowledging that the 21st century society has many expectations for its future employees. Thus, more Japanese universities are opening counselling offices. Before, many of these counselling offices were only aimed at supporting students doing job hunting. However, over the past decade, many of these offices have developed into mental health counselling as well. An example of a university offering counselling is the international university set in Japan, known as Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU for short). APU recognizes the importance of keeping a healthy mentality and thus have a counselling office ready to support students and faculty members that are struggling with an unhealthy mentality. Whether, the issue is regarding negative emotions, stress, addiction, lack of sleep, eating, anxiety and so on, the counselling office at APU is a place for you to get some of you worries off your chest. However, keep in mind, the office is not licensed to diagnose you, but they are always ready to chat and support you towards a healthy mentality.
Furthermore, at APU there are also students circles that aim towards healthier mindsets. An example of such a circle is APU MEWE (APU Mental Wellness). We will link their IG link below so please follow them. They share content regarding the importance of reflecting upon your mental health, different disorders students may suffer from, and also share news regarding different events and campaigns they work on highlighted for APU students. If you are not an APU student but would like to have a chat with them about their work, then please do not hesitate to contact them on their IG.
Overall, a healthy mentality is important. Having an unhealthy diet that affects our physical status happens many times, mental health is just as important to keep healthy and happens many times throughout our lives as well. If you are suffering, please seek a health professional and receive a diagnosis. Please talk about how you feel to those close around you. And if you do not wish to share those difficult emotions with those close to you, then there are people online you can speak to as well such as APU MEWE. We at APU LEAF wish you the best towards a healthy mentality.
APU MEWE IG LINK: https://www.instagram.com/apu.mewe/
Presented by APU LEAF
References
Kettenhofen, L. (2022, April 5). Number of suicides related to problems at work in Japan from 2012 to 2021. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/622325/japan-work-related-suicides/
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