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How does Japanese mental health system effect on my life.
Ken Udagawa
My name is Ken Udagawa. I am diagnosed schizoaffective disease.
I was hospitalized to mental hospital 4 times. Each time into closed ward, about 6 months.
I was locked into closed ward of mental hospital about 2 years as a total.
From 1991 to 1995 4 times 2 years as a total in 5 years.
In mental hospital there is merely informed consent system.
Recently I come to know doctor can change prescription for patient (consumer) but nurse can change prescription for nurse or as punishment or to make consumer not to speak in mental hospital.
In bad mental hospital which mane was Asakura hospital in Japan doctors give an intravenous high nutritional drip injection to patient and bound the patient by bed on the two arms and two legs and berry.
In that hospital patients were hospitalized against their will and bound by bed and given no water or no food and given only intravenous hyperalimentation.
Patients cry to ask water and food. But doctors give them polypharmacy of psychotropic medications and intravenous high nutritional drip injection.
It is extremely bad example but in Japanese mental hospital doctors or nurses treat patients other way in same means.
Much of doctors use polypharmacy of psychotropic medications.
I am suffering side effects of polypharmacy now.
5 years ago my doctor gave me 11 kinds of medication.
At last I met good doctor as a third psychiatric doctor in last hospitalization.
He reduce medication to 3 kinds but there was not new medication yet in Japan so now my fourth doctor gives me 3 kinds of medication with one kind of new medication.
She and I try to reduce medication but always failed.
She said I have taken too much medication too long so my brain have too much withdrawal symptom to reduce the old medication.
Because of side effects I go to part time job only 3 times in a week and other 4 days I have to rest in my apartment.
Most of doctors continue polypharmacy of psychotropic medication now.
They think medication as bind like chain which make consumers not to speak. Some doctor get angry when patient ask about medication and some patient think it is virtue of Japanese to ask doctor nothing.
Well, in mental hospital I started studying English by radio.
In mental hospital there is no recreation program nor self help group to kill time.
People do nothing but smoking and spend 3 months or 6 months there as average.
I did nothing but only to study English and take medication in mental hospital for 6 months so I could improve only my English.
But as a human I become weak and tend to depend my parents 5 years ago.
I come to think independently by myself after first trip to Los Angeles in 1997.
Since 1998 I started part time job and 2000 I live independently and 2002 I married.
In Japan not so many consumers live independently or marry.
Most consumers live with parents or brothers till they die and after relatives died they live by welfare or go back to mental hospital.
Because social resource is poor.
Community care started recently.
Before 1995 there was no idea of psychiatric disability in Japanese Government.
Before 1995 we were not disabled people we were only psychiatric patient.
Japanese federal mental health low they did not have idea of disabled person living in community 7 years ago.
People became weak in mental hospital and when they come back to community they live with family and continue to be weak and when family die they are still weak so they can not live independently.
I think doctors make us weak and families make us weak and co-medical staffs make us weak.
Consumers are beginning to aware of this but we tend to depend someone.
We do not have full civil right yet.
We cannot live as a full citizen yet.
But my wife and I started independent living without any support of professionals.
My wife is diagnosed schizophrenia.
My wife started going to workshop but they do nothing for our independent living.
High risk with no support is my life with my wife.
But we two take charge of community living together and take charge of our whole two lives together. |