Mental health of the unemployed in Japan

Abstract

This paper discusses the unemployment issue focusing on socio-cultural characteristics in Japan, as a member of the Asia Pacific region. After putting the current situation of Japanese unemployment in its historical context, results from two surveys are presented. The first followed the progress of unemployed, middle-aged Japanese men assumed to be victims of ristra (restructuring). From the results, we suggested that upon job loss, attachment to the company and the work ethic lead to isolation from the community and social stigma. The second study looked at the relationships between mental health, working function (LAMB) and the stigmatization towards the unemployed in the employed versus the unemployed. We found that the unemployed were worse off than the employed on all factors. Analysis of how these factors affect mental health suggests that activity and financial strain are influencing factors, regardless of employment status. Stigma had a significant influence on anxiety and depression for both groups. As to disturbance of activity, status influenced the activity of employees, while reason for leaving the company influenced the activity of the unemployed. These two factors are related to the approval of society and sensitivity to social appearance. This suggests that we should take into consideration the Japanese experience of shame and guilty when trying to understand their distress during unemployment. Such experiences of shame or guilty originate in the unemployed person's personal, familial and social historical contexts. To understand fully the feelings and experiences of the unemployed and to offer effective support, awareness of the individual socio-cultural factors is extremely important. Further research is needed to grasp fully the current situation with respect to socio-cultural differences, which will allow helpful information about the universal aspects of unemployment to be shared with other Asian Pacific countries.