世論 What Japan Thinks

Strategies for coping with stress, and mental health care in general, are sadly lacking in Japan. This recent survey from goo Research, conducted in association with All About Japan, into lifestyle, concentrating in particular on work and stress therein, highlights a few of these issues.

Demographics

Between the 28th of April and the 1st of May 2008 1,057 members of the goo Research online monitor panel aged between 20 and 49 and currently in employement completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.1% of the sample was male, 33.5% in their twenties, 33.8% in their thirties, and 32.7% in their forties.

Notice that in Q10, for means of managing stress, men are much less likely to do anything about it bar exercise, and four times as likely to do nothing at all.

I can get my commute to work in just under an hour, although the return usually takes one hour and ten minutes as I need to wait for one connection and sometimes choose the local train due to the ease of getting a seat.

Research results

Q1: How long is your daily commute one way? (Sample size=1,057)

Under 30 minutes	46.0%
Thirty to forty minutes	15.7%
Forty to fifty minutes	11.0%
Fifty minutes to one hour	13.0%
More than one hour	14.3%

Q2: How do you change your mood during your daily commute? (Sample size=1,057, multiple answer)

	Going to work	Returning
Listen to music	43.3%	43.7%
Send mobile phone email	20.8%	26.2%
Read a book	20.3%	22.5%
Listen to radio	18.4%	17.1%
View information on mobile phone	15.4%	20.0%
Read magazine, free paper, manga, etc	8.0%	11.0%
Change route, walk	6.1%	15.0%
Watch television	5.5%	6.4%
Play games	3.6%	5.0%
Go shopping	3.0%	33.2%
Other	3.8%	4.1%
Nothing in particular	23.4%	16.7%

Q3: How do you change your mood during work? (Sample size=1,057, multiple answer)

Eat, drink something	58.9%
Talk to, phone colleagues	53.7%
Browse internet	46.5%
Smoke cigarette	19.8%
Exchange mail with friends outside work	12.8%
Exchange mail with family, boy/girlfriend	11.6%
Leave the office	10.5%
Exchange mail with colleagues	7.7%
Talk to, phone family, boy/girlfriend	7.6%
Talk to, phone friends outside work	5.8%
Other	1.8%
Nothing in particular	9.7%

Q4: How long is your lunch break? (Sample size=1,057)

Under thirty minutes	6.1%
Thirty to forty minutes	8.0%
Forty to fifty minutes	15.8%
Fifty minutes to one hour	44.4%
More than one hour	25.7%

Q5: How do you most often spend your lunch break? (Sample size=1,057)

Go out to eat with co-workers	10.4%
Go out to eat by myself	13.3%
Eat in with co-workers	48.7%
Eat in by myself	27.6%

Q6: How much overtime do you do on average per day? (Sample size=1,057)

Under thirty minutes	32.8%
Thirty to forty minutes	6.5%
Forty to fifty minutes	2.7%
Fifty minutes to one hour	10.7%
One to two hours	23.0%
Two to three hours	15.3%
More than three hours	9.0%

Q7: How often do you go out to eat, drink after work with people from work? (Sample size=1,057)

Almost every day	1.0%
Two or three times a week	1.8%
Once a week	4.6%
Two or three times a month	11.9%
Once a month	18.3%
Less than once a month	43.4%
Don’t go drinking with colleagues	18.9%

Q8: What physical changes have you noticed since becoming an adult? (Sample size=1,057, multiple answer)

Tired eyes, dimmed sight, deteriorated vision	55.2%
Weight increase	50.9%
Back pain, stiff shoulders worsened	46.0%
Often get swollen legs or puffy face	21.8%
More headaches	21.3%
More stomach, intestinal pain	19.7%
Hard to get to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night	18.5%
Tend towards constipation, diorreaha	17.5%
Loss of weight	11.0%
Feel cold easily, cold extremities	10.1%
Feel hot easily, sweat a lot	8.1%
Other	1.7%
No particular changes since becoming an adult	8.6%

Q9: How much stress do you feel regarding work? (Sample size=1,057)

Feel almost no stress	7.2%
Don’t really feel stress	15.0%
Feel a little stress	36.8%
Often feel stress	26.4%
Usually feel stress	14.6%

Q10: How do you manage stress? (Sample size=1,057, mutliple answer)

	All	Male N=530	Female N=527
Discuss with family, girl/boyfriend	35.9%	24.7%	47.1%
Discuss with friends	26.4%	15.1%	37.8%
Discuss with colleagues	22.0%	16.8%	27.1%
Discuss with boss	11.5%	12.6%	10.3%
Discuss with subodinates	1.5%	2.3%	0.8%
Eat, drink	44.6%	38.1%	51.0%
Sleep well	43.4%	37.0%	49.9%
Go shopping	35.5%	20.4%	50.7%
Take a long bath	32.5%	25.1%	40.0%
Do sports, exercise	22.6%	25.7%	19.5%
Go on a trip	17.8%	15.9%	19.7%
Go for massage, relaxation, esthetics	17.4%	9.1%	25.8%
Other	6.6%	6.4%	6.8%
Nothing in particular	10.8%	17.0%	4.6%