Japan has record number of mental disorders due to stress at work
Severe stress at work caused mental health problems among workers in Japan, with the number of cases in 2023 the highest ever recorded, TASS reports
Japan declared this November as a month raising awareness to prevent death from overwork (‘karoshi’ in Japanese). According to the Japanese Health Ministry, in 2023, the number of people whose mental disorders, including depression, were caused by increased stress at work reached 883 – the highest number since the statistics were collected. At the same time, among them there are 52 people who occupy managerial positions. Stress at work led 15 people to suicide.
It has been noted that middle managers in Japan have been under increasing pressure from their own superiors in recent years as they are required to reform their work culture and reduce working hours for their subordinates, but maintain or even improve productivity levels. As a result, the workload of managers themselves and the number of hours they work are increasing – surveys show that middle managers in Japan spend more time at work than ordinary employees.
