 |
主人在宅ストレス症候群
If you're a psychology nerd like me, you'll find this one interesting.
Sometimes, an extreme aspect of a culture leads to a new mental illness developing in the people. Japan is experiencing this in the form of "One's Husband Being at Home Stress Syndrome", sometimes called "retired Husband Syndrome".
It happens like this:
In traditional Japanese culture, a married couple generally doesn't see much of each other. The kids are born early on, and then the husband starts working horrendous hours at his job and staying out late to drink, which is where much of the real business happens. His work life is typically not discussed in the household, and the wife doesn't usually discuss the daily goings-on of the household, which she oversees. Over time, married couples tend to carve out separate lives for themselves, and may rarely spend much time together.
The consequence of this is that when the husband retires, it is a massive shock. Couples often report feeling as though they are living with a stranger, and as divorce is not yet very socially acceptable in Japan and divorced wives are entitled to very few financial benefits, they tend to continue with the marriage.
This situation is hardest on the wife, as society dictates that it is her job to attend to her husbands every need, even though she now barely knows him. To top that off, it is now the man who will make major decisions around the house (though he often has no idea how to run a household) which the wife has been making for the past few decades. Adding to the problem is the fact that the Japanese, as with most Asian cultures, are encouraged to "suck it up" and not let on when they are in distress; most husbands of Retired Husband Syndrome sufferers have no idea that their wives are in such distress. Polls show that around 85% of soon-to-retire working men report that they are very much looking forward to retirement, but around 40% of their wives reported depression at the thought of their husband retiring.
The syndrome causes physical symptoms including headaches, stomach ulcers, depression, skin rash, high blood pressure and asthma-like symptoms. It also leads to bizarre behavior, like cases where women have been found to collect and groom thousands of teddy bears, or start stalking celebrities.
So how common is this syndrome? Well, it currently affects around 60% of all retired couples in Japan, and has led to a doubling in Japanese divorce rates among couples 50 and over. With the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age, and life expectancy longer than ever, this is becoming a serious problem for Japan. To tackle it, some husbands are easing their wives into retirement with a period of semi-retirement, or pushing back the date of their retirement altogether. Courses for older men on cooking, cleaning and communication skills have begun springing up, so that they will be less of a burden to their wives. Pension benefits for ex-wives are being revisited and improved, although the social stigma connected to divorce still remains. The rise of a new generation of women who aren't eager to accept the role of subservient housewife may also contribute to the downfall of this cultural illness.
|
 |
Reply
