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Caregivers, whether professional or unpaid family members, often experience physical, mental, and emotional strain as a result of their care-taking and suffer from stress, anxiety, anger, isolation, fatigue, and trauma to name a few issues. Family caregivers are especially likely to neglect their own health and self-care needs, making it more likely that their own well-being will be negatively affected which in turn jeopardizes the well-being of those they care for.

Caregivers are advised to practice self-care but can greatly benefit from psychotherapy which can provide the help and motivation for caregivers to take care of themselves, meet their needs, and continue their work. Therapy can help caregivers become better able to cope with grief, stress, and isolation. Donations to Caregiver Support go towards providing individual counseling, workshops, and support groups to educate and support caregivers so they can better manager their own psychological and emotional needs.

CJMH offers telephone and video counseling to Japanese-speaking clients outside the Greater Los Angeles area, particularly to caregivers, relief workers and social workers assisting in Japan’s recovery efforts in the earthquake and tsunami ravaged regions, or anyone who is unable to find effective counseling in their local area.

For those in Japan: The Japanese government does not regulate clinical psychologists or psychotherapists, and Japanese insurance companies do not cover their services. The certifications for the Japanese versions of these vocations only require about 10% of the training hours required by California’s Board of Behavioral Sciences. Not surprisingly, Japan psychologists and psychotherapists are prohibited from making diagnoses. CJMH counselors provide telephone counseling and refer patients in Japan with severe diagnoses to Japanese licensed psychiatrists and/or psychiatric hospitals for confirmation of their diagnoses and for further treatment. If determined to be sufficiently stable for outpatient treatment or in the case of a non-severe diagnosis, patients can continue treatment using distance counseling from CJMH.

For those in the USA: Outside of Los Angeles, New York and Hawaii, the states with the largest population of Japanese residents, it’s likely difficult to find a properly trained, licensed and experienced psychotherapist or other mental health professional who can comfortably and knowledgeably help a native Japanese speaker.

An article published by the NIH National Institute on Aging on April 23, 2019 starts: “Human beings are social creatures. Our connection to others enables us to survive and thrive. Yet, as we age, many of us are alone more often than when we were younger, leaving us vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness—and related health problems such as cognitive decline, depression, and heart disease.” We couldn’t agree more. So consider the plight of Japanese seniors who are suffering alone, either from the death of a spouse, separation or estrangement from adult children, and, increasingly more common, alone in the midst of strangers in a nursing home. There’s one more twist. We’ve noticed in our interactions with senior patients that those who are native Japanese-speakers and learned English as a second language begin to lose their English language skills as they age and experience cognitive decline. Given there are very few Japanese-oriented nursing homes, many Japanese seniors are less and less able to communicate with those around them with each day, making them linguistically isolated and at greater risk of precipitous mental decline.

To fight this trend and alleviate senior social isolation, CJMH sends psychology interns, sometimes accompanied by volunteers, on senior visits (to their home or nursing home) and speak to them primarily in Japanese. These visits are very valuable for raising their spirits, performing wellness checks, and forestalling mental decline as we engage them in table games and recounting stories in Japanese and English.

Mental health stigma persists in Japan, so it’s no surprise to learn there is very little research and collected data about Japanese mental health statistics and best practices for the Japanese population living in or outside Japan. Most of the existing research comes from psychiatric in-patient studies because that’s where mental health was predominantly practiced, in the hospital setting. As Japan moves towards more community-based and holistic practices for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders, we must take those opportunities to gather, share and analyze patterns and approaches that work best to help Japanese suffering from mental health problems. Towards this end, CJMH is reaching out to the Japanese community and healthcare professionals to gather and share data and knowledge about the prevalence and occurrence of mental health conditions among the Japanese community.

Japan has long battled one of the highest suicide rates in the industrialized world. In 2013, its national rate of suicide stood at 21.4 deaths per 100 000 people, well above that of other high-income countries (12.7 deaths per 100 000 people). Only within the last few years, have Japanese people begun to consider suicide as a social problem rather than a taboo subject to be avoided.

The Center for Japanese Mental Health combats suicide by:

• We’re fundraising to launch a Japanese suicide prevention hotline and informational warmline. Did you know Japanese callers to the US national suicide hotline are put on hold while they try to find an interpreter? We can and must do better. Our hotline will primarily support those Japanese living and working outside Japan but will, of course, help all who reach out to us.
• raising public awareness of mental health conditions that lead to suicide,
• educating laypeople to notice the warning signs for those at risk of suicide and how they can reach out to those at risk before they attempt to take their own lives,
• educating social welfare and other healthcare professionals to notice the warning signs for those at risk of suicide and how they can intervene and refer those at risk to mental health professionals who can help,
• providing in-person counseling to those suffering from depression (with medication as needed and appropriate) to help them regain their normal productive lives, and
• providing remote counseling by phone or videoconferencing to those who are unable to find local, professional and licensed counselors who provide culturally-sensitive psychotherapy in native Japanese.

Each of us has the ability to save someone from this permanent solution to a temporary problem by noticing, talking and listening with compassion. Would you please take a few minutes to read our suicide prevention guidelines so you’re prepared to be the ONE to save a life? Click here for Suicide prevention guidelines in English and in Japanese.

Our counselors and volunteers are the most visible representatives of CJMH and they are our heart and soul, working directly with the Japanese community that we serve and partner organizations. But as with any organization, there are people and processes working diligently in the background to support the overall operations of the company. While it’s often most rewarding to donate to a specific cause that resonates with the donor, CJMH greatly appreciates donations to its general fund to be used for administrative, fundraising and support functions that enable our charitable work to continue.

A conservative estimate of 1 in 5 people in Japan will experience one form or more of depression in their lifetime. Even greater numbers will experience psychological and emotional distress that impact their health, relationships, careers, and societal productivity. Cultural stigma of mental illness imposes silent suffering resulting in somatized medical complaints which lead to an overburdened healthcare system, ineffective yet costly treatments, and, in extreme cases, hospitalization and suicide. The mental health crisis is further exacerbated by the number and severity of natural disasters that have afflicted Japan. Studies of large-scale disasters, such as the 2011 Great East Japan and 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, show that the impact on the mental health of survivors is sometimes enormous, with 50% or more of those affected suffering from clinically significant distress or psychopathology. Many of those people will develop psychological disorders such as major depression, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. It is no exaggeration to say that Japan is in desperate need for greater accessibility to mental health treatment.

Gender inequity persists in Japan while economic and political opportunities for women remain substantially lower than those for men. Societal norms continue to denigrate Japanese women and treat them with low regard even in their own households. In the workplace, women face sexual and power harassment, limited opportunities for advancement, and mostly temporary, part-time, and low-paying jobs. Positive change was occurring, albeit slowly. Then the COVID-19 economic fallout hit and the results are inequitably devastating to women, leading to Japan’s first increase in suicide rates in nearly a decade, and a 15% increase in women suicides.

CJMH seeks to restore progress towards gender equity by bolstering women’s resilience and self-esteem. The pandemic amplified the stresses of Japanese culture on women and pushed many beyond their ability to cope and to develop or succumb to mental illness which leads to ostracization in Japan. Japanese women are inherently creative, energetic, and powerful, as symbolized by “Harajuku Girls”. The Harajuku Girls Project will use fashion to promote positive self-expression, empowering girls and young women to nurture self-esteem and resilience. We will enable global communities of support and provide mental health resources for those in need to further strengthen resilience.

While the premise is based upon Japanese street culture and fashion, the Harajuku Girls Project can potentially help women and girls all around the world. With that global mission in mind, CJMH is sponsoring the creation of the Harajuku Girls Project as a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity and providing it organizational support. Please help us get this important new champion of women and girl empowerment on its feet with your generous donations!