Today I continue
to explore the theme that Japan's two decades of economic stagnation may offer
guidelines for what lies ahead "for the rest of us" as the global
malaise deepens in the years ahead. I have been a student of
Japan for 40 years, having studied the language, history, literature, geography
and art/film, in university and thereafter. We have many Japanese friends and
have visited a number of times. (I have also been a student of the Chinese and
Korean cultures.)
Japan is quite
different from the U.S. and Europe, with a homogeneous populace and a culture
rooted in Confucian values and social hierarchies. Despite the many
differences, including definitions of depression, I think it is self-evident
that the rising insecurity and workplace changes in Japan result from long-term
economic stagnation.
I suspect
"new-type depression" may have some universal aspects, as rising
insecurity and new demands in the workplace characterize Western economies as
well.
New-type
depression--NTD--(also called modern-type) is not a classic depression. It does not respond to
anti-depressant medications, and it is triggered by events in the
workplace--usually criticism from superiors. Those who exhibit the
symptoms--difficulty focusing at work, physical symptoms of stress, etc.--tend
to be in their 20s and 30s.
With 26% of
companies reporting NTD in their workforces, it is widely viewed as a threat to
Corporate Japan.
Outside of work,
the person with new-type depression continues their social life as before, even
as they find themselves unable to go back to work. In other words, they do not
suffer from generalized anxiety or anhedonia (inability to enjoy anything in
life).
This leads older
Japanese to dismiss the NTDs as lazy or spoiled, because the depression is
often triggered by demands at work the young worker cannot meet.
Psychologists in
Japan are struggling to understand and define new-type depression. Some feel it
is a form of rebellion against a rigid society. Others believe it results from
poor communication skills on the part of both the younger workers and their senior
supervisors.
Why are poor
communication skill suddenly an issue in hierarchical Japan? It turns out that
Corporate Japan has adopted Western-style management techniques to cope with
declining sales and profitability. Job security is no longer absolute in
Corporate Japan, and high-level social skills are now required in the "New
Economy."
This is also the
case in America, where routine work that required only following orders has
declined in favor of work that demands constant communication with work groups
and and interaction with supervisors. This "New Economy" workplace
places a premium on high-level verbal, written and social skills of the sort
that females generally score higher on than males. (NTD does not appear to be
gender-related, as both males and females experience NTD.)
The "New
Economy" in Japan and the U.S. places great pressure on those with poor
communication skills and who take their work seriously. Criticism or a failure
to keep up pushes the anxiety-ridden worker into new-style depression.
According to Japan’s
case of the office blues (Financial Times, free registration
required), Corporate Japan has also flattened management levels, U.S.-style,
diminishing the traditional mentoring relationship between senior supervisors
and junior workers.
This
relationship evoked certain aspects of the stern and demanding father-figure,
the boss who might yell at you but who looked out for you and nurtured you
within the corporate hierarchy.
“It is a
generation that faces a situation in which the balance between responsibility
and authority is broken,” says Mr Imai. “Also, in the past, there used to be a senpai-kohai [older worker,
younger worker] system, where more experienced staff mentored their
subordinates, but now everyone is equal, so everyone is alone,” he says.
More than 26 per
cent of businesses surveyed last year by the health ministry said they had
cases of workers resigning or taking leave of more than one month for mental
health reasons. This was up from just 7.6 per cent in a survey
conducted three years before. The bulk of those businesses, or 84 per cent of
respondents, said problems of mental health affected their business performance
negatively.
We can summarize
the breeding ground of new-type depression:very demanding work that is
beyond the capacity of people with poor social and communication skills and
those who fear being left behind or failing. Fearing failure, they wilt under
criticism that seems unfair and irresponsible given that they're doing their
best. Facing an apparently no-win situation at work, they quit or take an
extended leave of absence.
This doesn't
solve the depression or its causes, unfortunately. What seems to help is
counseling that raises the emotional maturity of the person with NTD so they
can better handle criticism, and counseling the senior supervisors to become
better communicators with younger workers.
Placing workers
with low communication skills in jobs where they can work independently and
productively also helps.
The demands on
enterprises and employees alike are rising as the "New Economy" of
pervasive insecurity and constant adaptation become the norm. The take-away from
Japan's new-style depression is that we need to understand not all workers are
cut out for the high-social-skill "New Economy," though in the right
positions they are admirably productive. That will take a new level of
management skills in Corporate Japan, America and Europe as defin
No comments:
Post a Comment