I'm not pretending to know the magic bullet but I do think there is a link between work culture and mental health. I lived in Japan for two years and it happened in *high schools* because kids had one hour to themselves a day before bedtime and doing it all over again

sorry for bringing it up it has been weighing on my mind for so long. everyone knows someone who has done this and it makes me upset that people don't hold a culture of overwork responsible. leave people time to be bored in the company of others. fuck the idea of always-on productivity

I guess part of the reason I am able to see this is because I no longer am forced to work wild hours away from people I can talk to. the moment I most considered taking my life was when I was in hotels, sleepless from travel, with fifty pitches on my mind, and making less than minimum wage. I am so grateful for the job I have now and the company I am in. I do the max amount of work, healthily. within my own limits. and I finish at dinner time. so grateful.

@caraellison It's interesting how America and Japan have career stressors in different ways. In the US, there's just no safety net; debt defines most of us, and any health incidents can literally bankrupt you. In Japan it seems more of an honor thing, though I can't pretend to grok it, having never lived there.

It just feels like such a systematic, societal problem. We need to stop shaming people and making them just feel like a burden on society if they're not 110% productive.

@shoeberto a little known secret is that America is responsible for the work culture in Japan. Otherwise they’d be completely communist.

@caraellison Yay capitalism.

@shoeberto we did it

@caraellison Bullying is also rampant in Japanese high schools. You get bullied for any sort of nonconformity and the teachers just look the other way, if not encourage it.

@freakazoid I think there is definitely a 'the nail that sticks up gets hammered down' stuff mixing into it, but it's the pressure cooker that really makes it seem like you are an adult in a corporate workhouse before you're even 13 years old. I taught eight year olds who became completely different people after entering the pressures of high school

@caraellison The combination of "things are shitty now' and "I have nothing but constant work to look forward to" seems like a perfect storm.

I wonder if the Japanese suicide rate is high enough that it's affected their genome to increase the fraction of people able to tolerate such an environment?

@freakazoid no, it hasn’t. They commit suicide at an alarming and upsetting rate.

@caraellison It's probably going to get worse, too. They have a very low birth rate and a rapidly aging population, which means fewer people working to support an increasing number or retired people. Which will cause the birth rate to fall even further.

@caraellison @freakazoid This is to say nothing of growing numbers of hikikomori. And the large numbers of “invisible hikikomori”, freeters, and NEET who are ignored as a social problem because they are girls and women.

When social stresses reach a threshold to push out a critical mass of people, the fabric begins to tear... 🤷🏽‍♀️

@caraellison One of the folks I follow boosted this and... I like how you've considered this. #newfollowerhooray