don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Happy 4th of July. Today we celebrate Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America. On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, so happy 225th birthday, America. Have a fun, enjoyable day and try not to do anything stressful, like blowing yourself up with a firecracker.

Speaking of stress, do you realize that many illnesses, particularly heart failure and cerebral hemorrhage and even death, including suicides, are directly linked with high stress environments? This is true. In fact, in response to a growing number of stress-related disorders, some companies are looking for ways to lower the negative effects of stress while improving productivity. Unfortunately, the latter is one of the very pressures that make stress such a big deal in the first place. In Japan last year, for example, 33,048 committed suicides that were attributed to stress overload. The situation is so bad over there that the Japanese have a word for stress overload - karoshi. According to a Labor Ministry survey, more than sixty percent of workers say they feel stress at work, and fifteen percent of sick leaves of one month or longer are attributed to "mental disorders caused by karoshi."

Last year, a Japanese court ruled that suicide could be an instance of karoshi. The parents of a young executive named Oshima Ichiro successfully sued his advertising agency employer because Ichiro had worked non-stop for months prior to committing suicide -- which they argued was another instance of karoshi! There are two hundred similar cases wending their way through the Japanese legal system at this time.

My usual posture of bemused skepticism calls to mind a line by the old time comedian Henny Youngman, namely, "My nephew has an industrial disease: work makes him sick." Well, Henny Youngman could not use that line if he were performing in Japan these days, since the problem of karoshi is taken quite seriously.

As a matter of fact, the Japanese government has approved a plan to create, over a seven-year period, 347 centers throughout the nation to combat "death from overwork!" In addition, the Labor Ministry, charged to implement a karoshi-prevention program, will establish 47 research centers to train doctors to deal with an epidemic of what they believe are stress-related illnesses.

According to my sources, a group of lawyers started the karoshi idea. How come I’m not surprised? It began with a hotline service, wherein people who felt overstressed at work were invited to call an 800 number with details and to register in some manner. Needless to add, many thousands of workers called. If such a campaign were done in this country, millions would call in! Heck, I'd call, too -- and I’m self-employed!

How could the people who gave us Toyotas, Sonys and sushi work themselves into a state of being flummoxed about something as ridiculous as karoshi? Who is responsible for stress disorders? Not Japanese society, the culture or the organization, but the individual who goes along and fails to realize that the choices he or she makes determines the nature and effect of events and circumstances.

The karoshi problem is really one of poor stress management. On a larger scale, it’s a reflection of too little appreciation in that particular culture for the value of a healthy balance between work and the rest of life. It reflects a poor awareness of the importance of self-managing lifestyles, or wellness values.

On the other hand, there could be an opportunity here, if only a way could be found to persuade the Japanese politicians and other decision leaders to convert the 347 centers and 47 research complexes from the symptom (karoshi) to the solution, namely, education about and support for wellness lifestyles.

What do you think?

Be well, enjoy and look on the bright side.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of stress management. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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