Daniel Neagari comments

It’s still a taboo here to ask for help or that kind of stuff or mention to friends or in the workplace.

No is not. Although there is no deny in several organizations (private mostly) mentioning the mental health issue (or any other none work related issues) is kind of "punished" that is not the norm and the Japanese society and authorities are working toward eliminating that kind of mentality.

Having said that, I have experience fist hand that the abuse and lack of understanding toward mental health is problematic in other contries (in some cases worse that Japan), like the US and Chile (from my experience and what I have witness).

All for all, I think Japan is doing fairly good in what is mental health support and understanding. There is much to overcome and to fix, but its on the good path.

@Yuuju

To be honest, religion in many cases makes it worse. When catholics "tried" to support ... I really prefered to be death.

And, christianity as part of family core (my mother is one of those) does not prevent nor help in depression.

Ricky Kaminski13July 25  07:59 pm JST

Lot of sad lonely people out there wondering what their conveyor belt life is all about, never been given the mental goods to fully process what’s going on nor imagine that there are options.

As a person diagnosed with cronical clinical depression, let me tell you this comment is not accurate. I am not lonely, I am married and my wife loves me, even then when I was in the deepest point of my last depression episode, I did consider killing myself (this was three years ago more or less)... So no, sad people we may be, but lonely is not a requirement to be depress of to considr suicide.

Another thing, "little" encoragement is not enough, being depress is not solved only with a kind word and "little support"... to be honest if someone is just going to give "little" of anything, better keep it to yourself.

I wasn't going to comment but.... I think there is a need of urgent clarification

MARTYR

noun

mar·​tyr ˈmär-tər 

1: a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion

2: a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle

a martyr to the cause of freedom

3: VICTIM especially : a great or constant sufferera martyr to asthma all his life

Whereas, the 3rd definition does not apply to Trump in this case since he is not sick nor is not a "great or constant" suffering, that is based on the comments of their supporters and some commentators here.

And for the 1st and 2nd.... well the key word there is "death"...

So order for Trump to be a martyr, he has to be death either physically or pollitically....which he is not (again based on his supporter base)

What is good about this news is that, the prankster has succeeded in damaging a greedy pharama company and at the same time able to make a very powerful hit to mElon Musk.

@to all who for some reason think that Japan is the only country in the world leading teen suicide and suicide overall.

First of all, I am not denying that Japan has a high rate of suicide. I am saying that that image that many still hold almost religiously, that Japan is the suicide leading country is wrong and outdated (the first link demostrate it clearly).

Second, the suicide rate of teen in average is high in EVERY country, because teens are suceptible to suffer from that.

The US suicide rate of teens is still high (not like Japan of Sout Korea) but it reaches 14%.

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00857/

Also, a consideration has to be made regarding how the US defines suicide for the cases of teen with guns, and how many Latin american countries count and consider suicide (being the influence of catholic religion a big thing).

Third, I wonder why you so eagerly want to put Japan in first place for suicide, to the point of ignoring data, and why attack people that suggest to revise your views.

Lastly, as I person who suffers from clinical cronic depression and have in the past 2 unsuccesfful attempts of suicide (if i were succeful in taking my life, the statistics would not have been in Japan but elsewhre), I think I am able to see thing in another light. I live in Japan currently, and just last year a had one of my hardest episodes of depression of my entire life... I got to the point of thinking that I did not need to live anymore.. but my wife, friends and doctor (all of them Japanese by the way) help me to reconsider.

The cause, was not in fact the "evil" Japanese society... but in fact due to power harrasment and psycological, social and laboral abuse from a couple of people from a non japanese (non Asian) country.

Well is not like US media hasn't got it shares of ripping japanese media either...

Althoug not the same type of slaughtering, nausieting non the less, some examples come to mind

Drangon Ball

Hokuto no ken

So, i suppose we are even

@tora

And the way suicides are classified as such is the same from country to country? Me thinks not.

Huh? how on hell can "suicide" be classified?? so it is voluntary suicide, involuntary suicide, accidental suicide, chemical suicide, magical suicide??

Suicide " the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally",

What other type of suicide is there??

No... what kind of question is this?

No doubt that Japan needs to have enough fire power to defend itself and its interests, but that and having nukes are two very distinct things.

Just like saying, I have an orchad of apples, so I can sell Cyanide

＠Indigo

Here　tfdinfo@tfd.metro.tokyo.jp　it is on the net you know... by the way, in the case of Tokyo, I think each district (ku) Fire department has mail address.

@Eugene

I said it before and I'll say it again, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

From a third person point of view, yes it sure seems like that.

But from the point of view of the person who is suffering or having that types of thoughts, the situation and the logic that you are trying to apply may not be valid.

Not everyone have the same brain connections nor perseption.

Please considere that, that type of comments may be as hurtful to the person suffering as any bullying.

@Spitfire

Yes it is a problem... but suprisingly Japan is not the country wiht more suicides in the World, is not even in the top 10. So perhaps the image of "Japanese society makes you wanna die" type of narrative is wrong and old?

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country

MoonrakerToday  07:38 am JST

I find that Christmas in Japan is frustrating and depressing. You get all the build up and anticipation and then it never comes.

Whaaat? but that is the traditional Christmass feeling... frustration and drepression!!!. I know, i spent all my fisrt 27 years in Latin america, so aside of couple of years during childhood, other X'mas is spirti is frustration, depression, lonelyness and hopelessness....

See there is the Christmass spirit!!!

sooo recap....

Musk make fuss that he will buy twitter paying 44 billions

Then, Musk noticed that Twitter was not such a good deal (wonder why Musk being so smart and business saavy didn't got that information sooner....), so he back off his own deal.

Twitter said, "you said you are goinna buy it, then buy it", Musk say "nay".... Twitter said "to the court"....

Musk and Twitter talking at the court... the court said "this Musky deal seems to be binding"...

Musk then said to himself (or pehaps a higher mind??) "oh shcuks, I think i have to buy it before this get more costely"... so he bought.

...But... Musk did not have enough cash to he had to sell a coupe of his golden shares (Tesla) to cover part of the 44 billions (bad time to sell shares, considering their prices are very low at the moment)...

Musk said "I sell share 'cause Twitte money does not make"... in a big pompous way..

... But then we say, "we all knew Twitter did not make money, some time ago... why genious Musk did not know that?"....

Musk say: "i am here to save da day, cost 8 dallars to have a blue jay",

but we say : "Twitter never charge for a jay, though that machination must have surface on an early day. Surely, a smart man will have other roads for salvation, since he has rockets, cars, robots and excavations"

Musk say: "oh I know, half the staff go away, the other half will work am to pm eyday. Blue ticks will cost 8 dollars, gray ticks are not my thing, go away you schemer of the gray !!!"

Musk say : "Twitter will be like its chief. So Twitter be as Twedle dum"

Not a good move... considering that he may be poundering to include some twitter source code to its tesla cars and robot.....

I would not be happy to be in a car that be twitting while driving or a robot that will try to dominate human race by causing havok in twitter.

Maybe the Chinese cyber army (CCP hackers) got the message wrong, it may have being just a message to offer NATTO in a meal during the joint opperations???

Since in order to join NATO, Japan will be require to move all its assets including landmass to the Attlantic....

@Nadrew

In my case, I was born Wild, Marry Shinto, Divorced and Re:married civil.. and like to Die Hard (hohoho)

When I was young(er), and there wer no carnavs, no google maps, the only way to find get to the house of the girl with whom you are having a date with, was those paper made maps..... but then maybe thieves and delincuents did not have the means to get a city map (sold in every kiosk, bookshop, comic stand, supermarket, etc.) with a price of USD 3 max..)

Translation:

Let the MONEY take center stage, before politics

One word... Movies

More than one word, the influence of Unated States type of western culture of the past (up until mid 1990 maybe?), specially based in the idea of Princess type dress celebrated by every one in a "Happy ending" style.

@Painkiller

The thing is that many people (and in some way myself too) have a not very well defined concept of "freedom of speech"... or "freedom" in general.

My concept of freedom (and I hope it to be close to what ideally shoudl be) is that, freedom have limits that are defined by the freedom of others. "my freedom ends where your freedom begins"

But I feel that many, have the idea that freedom is limitless, where my freedom goes over your freedom...

@virusrex

Noone... because of reasons (money)

The origin with the dislike with Musk, is that he has had a very well recorded hystory of being an opportunistic and selfish person that make promisses but does not honored them.

In May this year (at the begining of his Twitter buyout scheme), he cleary stated that he was a "free speech supremasist" and noone will be banned, EVERYONE will be able to twitt what they will... He even reiterated that a couple of weeks ago... But then, just a few days back, he banned for life several people, under the reason that they violated the new guide lines of twitter.. one of which was that "parody accounts has to clearly stated that they are so".... many banned parody accounts where following those guidelines but still they got banned, reason? because, Elon "Perinum" Musk.

This is just the latest example of why people does not like Musk...

Let's see.... feer of nuclear war, feer of the ozone layer dissapearing, concern of desertification of forest and jungle, water pollution, reseading ice caps... trash mouting, air pollution, food poisoning, asbestos breading....

I think, I was more concern in surviving.... i think i am still now.

Awa no Gaijin

Japanese don't know how to celebrate Halloween !

...and you do, I suspect....

Regarding the reason for costums and jack lanterns.... if you do you have to agree that, the US celebration of Halloween is also wrong

@AgentX

As you well know, that's the first step that never gets taken in Japan. It's an unfortunate paralysis.

Sadly yes.... I was sincerely shocked when a Kohai (like 5 years younger than me), made a friend and colleague of mine to quit the company, because "It is a man's job... and my wife should be at home"...

I almost punch him, when I heard this if it not were for my friend herself that stopped me (it was during a nomikai).

The other shocking thing was that she oblige to what he was saying....

Not surprisingly, I was not invited to the wedding and she was banned to contact me by any means....

@papigiullo

Just because a law or a norm does not stipulate any kind of penalty or punishment does not mean the law is BS.

The mere existence of the law ables the people and the authorities to take actions (like the present case).

It is sad that a law like this should have to be made... in a ideal society it should be a matter of commons sense and respect enough to prevent these kind of hate speech and other stuff like this

You know when your lap dog (Japan) is grunting at you (US)... you really making a big big mess.

Sooo... basically using Trump's legal team, when applying for a loan, I can be my own Guarantor? How convenient

The problem is... there is soo many old timers and/or people with a ancient way of thinking in most Japanese companies (and in many non-Japanese companies too).

But the most concerning problem, is the lack of interest and help from colleagues of both genders.

I was actively involved in ways to improve and facilitate the working environment specially for women, at my former job, but the real lack of commitment and interest for my workplace colleagues made any effort null.... At the end I was seen like I used the workplace Seminars, workshops and talks as ways to skip out of work.

Many of my friends (women) either had to find another job (2 people) or had to simply quit (like 5 of them), it really made me feel useless.

So, basically I am saying, people in the workplace has to speak up and be involved...