A BLOGGYFUL MIND
Few years ago, I was really moved by Ron Howard's movie "A Beautiful Mind". Russel Crow plays a math genius (based on real life Nobel Prize-winner John Forbes Nash Jr), who struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. Although in "A Beautiful Mind" the ugliest part of the disease is not really shown; the man's career was interrupted for more than 25 years and his wife divorced him before he successfully sought treatment and recovered; the movie is ultimately teaching audiences that mental illness is treatable and that suicide is preventable.

There is a common belief that writers and artists in general suffer more from mental illness than the public and that there is a relation between genius and madness. In her book "Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament" Kay Redfield Jamison, an American professor of psychiatry who suffered herself from manic-depression (see her bio) explores the connection between mental disorders and artistic creativity. She presents an impressive collection of artists who have suffered from mental illness.

What interested me in particular in Jamison's discussion on treating mental illness is the resistance that artists may have to seek for help and once diagnosed, to stay on drug therapy on the belief they the later will make them loose their creativity. There are many creative and productive people in the world who do not suffer of mental illness leading to the conclusion that it is still possible to be creative, even when undergoing drug treatment. This is particularly important if you know that left untreated, people suffering from mental disorders such as depression, have 10 times more chances to commit suicide than the general population, without even counting all the suffering and devastating effects on families and loved ones.

Why am I bringing this topic ? This year is marking the six anniversary of the tragic death of my best friend. She was beautiful, smart and young, but she took her own life and I was unaware of the terrible pain she must have been through to decide to kill herself.

That's in part why I am sensible to the fact that Japan is a society that still stigmatizes any kind of mental illness including depression, a widespread condition across Japan but largely hidden and undiagnosed.

"Suicide has become a national epidemic" announced the Japanese Government after the number of people taking their own lives reached an all time high of 30,000 in one year. Elderly people are particularly at risk.

Social stigma, shame, and saving face often prevent Japanese people who suffer from a mental disorder from seeking health care. The problem lies also in the fact that most doctors are not aware of symptoms and treatments available, they usually also don't talk with their patients (a consultation lasts on average less than 5 minutes, between 2 and 3 minutes) According to Prof. Rihito Kimura, Professor of Bioethics and Law, at Waseda University, Tokyo, the problem has also its roots in the Japanese Healthcare System

In an article from the New York Times, Dr Shinkai, a geriatrician, said that 70 percent of his patients suffered clinical depression. "People choose a doctor according to the organ they think they have a problem with".

Depression in not an option here, suicide is !

Well, I think there is hope, Japan is changing faster than people in the West usually think and Japanese women in particular are taking an active role in healthcare according to WOM, a non-profit, independent organization made up of women. If you are interested in healthcare in Japan I suggest an interesting article on Women and Medical Care

Anne