I read a news report that states that Japanese television station NHK says that some 5,000 Japanese teachers suffer from mental illness.
My first reaction is - that's nuts.
The numbers are based, however, on yet another Japan Education Ministry survey (see HERE for one on school kid obesity).
According to the ministry survey, these numbers are double what was recorded 10 years ago!
Wow.
The survey reports that of the teachers in public elementary, junior and high schools, 8,544 teachers had taken sick leave. Of that number, 5,274 of them - or 62% - said they were suffering from a mental illness, including depression.
Wow. Now... being familiar with a few Japanese teachers, and knowing a number of people close to me with a mental illness or two, I should say I am not surprised - but I am.
I never saw a teacher take a sick day in the three years I taught junior high school English in Japan back between 1990-1993. That doesn't mean they didn't, of course. I just didn't notice.
And that's the thing about mental illness - especially depression - no one really notices, and people aren't apt to talk about it for fear of being considered weak. People everywhere seem to have the misconception that mental illness is a weakness. It's not. It just affects some people because of a chemical imbalance.
You might be surprised to discover that at my work place, I know of at least five people who suffer from depression. And they only revealed that to me after I revealed what I was going through at home with a family member.
Depression hurts everyone. Most of the time, people with depression don't know that they have it, and even then refuse to confide in others until things spiral out of control. You'll have to trust me on this one.
I do not suffer from a single mental illness (that I am aware of), but mental illness certainly has affected my life. Hell... I have a cousin who seems to have something bothering him, but it's not out in the open, and thus I only have suspicion and no proof. He won't tell. There's a stigma, you see. My uncle, and possibly my grandmother have/had mental illness. On my wife's side - I wouldn't even know where to start. Everyone?
The thing I would question from this Ministry of Education survey is whether or not, now that the Ministry is armed with this information, they are doing anything to help the people who need the help. Certainly 5,274 teachers suffering from depression is a hell of a lot.
Is there something about the make-up of the profession that propels people towards a mental breakdown? Is there something about the country as a whole that is causing people to suffer mental illness - or, as I suspect, have these numbers always been high, but only now are people becoming more honest about the reasons for the absenteeism?
While being a teacher in Japan certainly doesn't posses the cache it once did - the place of honor in the Japanese society that existed maybe 40 years ago, but neither is it a profession that is looked down upon by Japanese society.
I do know that Japanese teachers are woefully underpaid in comparison to say their Canadian counterparts. Heck... back in 1993 I made about Cdn/US $36,000 a year, and made more than a Japanese teacher of English who had been working for 20 years.
I mean, I understood why I got a decent pay as a member of the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme, but that doesn't excuse why Japanese teachers had such a low salary back then. Granted, I am discussing monetary figures from 20 years ago, but even if they doubled the Japanese teacher's salary (unlikely), I'm betting it might still be less than what most teachers earn in North America.
But... is financial remuneration a trigger for mental illness? No. Surely each and every person who is a teacher got into the profession knowing full well what the job entailed.
The point isn't to determine what is triggering mental illness, rather what is being done to help those who do. I'm still pretty pissed off about the way mental illness has impacted me, but it doesn't mean one shouldn't have compassion.
So, Japan Ministry of Education - what are you doing about it? If anyone in Japan would care to chime in on depression, I would love to hear from you.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
My first reaction is - that's nuts.
The numbers are based, however, on yet another Japan Education Ministry survey (see HERE for one on school kid obesity).
According to the ministry survey, these numbers are double what was recorded 10 years ago!
Wow.
The survey reports that of the teachers in public elementary, junior and high schools, 8,544 teachers had taken sick leave. Of that number, 5,274 of them - or 62% - said they were suffering from a mental illness, including depression.
Wow. Now... being familiar with a few Japanese teachers, and knowing a number of people close to me with a mental illness or two, I should say I am not surprised - but I am.
I never saw a teacher take a sick day in the three years I taught junior high school English in Japan back between 1990-1993. That doesn't mean they didn't, of course. I just didn't notice.
And that's the thing about mental illness - especially depression - no one really notices, and people aren't apt to talk about it for fear of being considered weak. People everywhere seem to have the misconception that mental illness is a weakness. It's not. It just affects some people because of a chemical imbalance.
You might be surprised to discover that at my work place, I know of at least five people who suffer from depression. And they only revealed that to me after I revealed what I was going through at home with a family member.
Depression hurts everyone. Most of the time, people with depression don't know that they have it, and even then refuse to confide in others until things spiral out of control. You'll have to trust me on this one.
I do not suffer from a single mental illness (that I am aware of), but mental illness certainly has affected my life. Hell... I have a cousin who seems to have something bothering him, but it's not out in the open, and thus I only have suspicion and no proof. He won't tell. There's a stigma, you see. My uncle, and possibly my grandmother have/had mental illness. On my wife's side - I wouldn't even know where to start. Everyone?
The thing I would question from this Ministry of Education survey is whether or not, now that the Ministry is armed with this information, they are doing anything to help the people who need the help. Certainly 5,274 teachers suffering from depression is a hell of a lot.
Is there something about the make-up of the profession that propels people towards a mental breakdown? Is there something about the country as a whole that is causing people to suffer mental illness - or, as I suspect, have these numbers always been high, but only now are people becoming more honest about the reasons for the absenteeism?
While being a teacher in Japan certainly doesn't posses the cache it once did - the place of honor in the Japanese society that existed maybe 40 years ago, but neither is it a profession that is looked down upon by Japanese society.
I do know that Japanese teachers are woefully underpaid in comparison to say their Canadian counterparts. Heck... back in 1993 I made about Cdn/US $36,000 a year, and made more than a Japanese teacher of English who had been working for 20 years.
I mean, I understood why I got a decent pay as a member of the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme, but that doesn't excuse why Japanese teachers had such a low salary back then. Granted, I am discussing monetary figures from 20 years ago, but even if they doubled the Japanese teacher's salary (unlikely), I'm betting it might still be less than what most teachers earn in North America.
But... is financial remuneration a trigger for mental illness? No. Surely each and every person who is a teacher got into the profession knowing full well what the job entailed.
The point isn't to determine what is triggering mental illness, rather what is being done to help those who do. I'm still pretty pissed off about the way mental illness has impacted me, but it doesn't mean one shouldn't have compassion.
So, Japan Ministry of Education - what are you doing about it? If anyone in Japan would care to chime in on depression, I would love to hear from you.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
0 comments:
Post a Comment