Living in Japan as a foreigner with high functioning autism

[edogaijin]

Is there anything a foreign person with autism in Japan should know? I've been told Japan is very rule-bound, and that Japanese generally dislike people that don't 'understand' the rules or try to follow Japanese society. I don't see any of this as a big deal at all.

A Japanese friend warned me that most people here see autistic people as "crazy" or dangerous. Is Japan really this robotic and uniform in the way it perceives things?

 

[Msnoir]

I am wondering the same. I mean, how well can you live in Japan, with an mental illness, that requires special medicine. Do you get the medicine mailed from home, or do you get a special licence to buy it in Japan.

 

[edogaijin]

Um it isn't an illness?

 

[Msnoir]

Um it isn't an illness?

Was that an answer to me?

 

[edogaijin]

I mean I think you can get a lot of medicine delivered to Japan if you have the money for it. Provided it's legal here of course. I was just saying I don't think high functioning autism or aspergers syndrome qualifies as a proper illness according to most medical professionals.

 

[WonkoTheSane]

I mean I think you can get a lot of medicine delivered to Japan if you have the money for it. Provided it's legal here of course. I was just saying I don't think high functioning autism or aspergers syndrome qualifies as a proper illness according to most medical professionals.

As a medical professional I can tell you that you're wrong. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a diagnosable disorder based on criteria from the DSM.

 

[edogaijin]

Yeah but a disorder isn't really the same thing as what people normally call a mental illness. You can have a roughly normal life with autistic traits, whereas a sociopath or schizophrenic likely never has a totally normal life.

 

[Msnoir]

I've phrased my self wrong. I didn't think that much about the difference in mental illness compared to mental disease, in English.
I do know that it is also different from country to country what is regarded as a disease, and what is not.
And I don't have autism. I have a disease that is in the subgroup of autism. And this is getting a bit personal, but I hope you can see through this.
But I believe to get my question answered, I have to ask a professional doctor, that have to do with people going overseas.
Especially with the medicine part. It would be "cheaper" to have a license that makes it okay to buy it at a local drugstore in Japan, then have it send from home.

 

[edogaijin]

Medicine for autism? I wasn't even aware that existed. Chances are it's cheaper in your home country because Japanese health insurance doesn't usually cover foreign medication nor mental stuff..

 

[Msnoir]

Its a subgroup of autism. It is not autism, but there are some parts in the disease that have autism tendencies. Its called schizotypy. It is at the same time, the little brother to Schizophrenia.
The difference is that are rarely any psychotic episodes, compared to Schizophrenia.
There are aspect init from schizophrenia. Like tunnel syndrome, obsessiveness with ideas, interest, and hobbies. And antisocialness, concentrations problems, and memory labs. There are also a bit of OCD. But then again, it is different from person to person.
It is because the brain normally is filtering everything from noise, impressions, and so on. A person with either schizophrenia, or schizotypal is partly missing those filters. So the brain gets a overload of theses senses. So you can say compared to some other mentalilnesses you are born with it. I mean not everyone born with this disability will evolve it, but they can.
I hope it explains it.

 

[edogaijin]

I believe that traditionally, mental illness is thought to not exist in Japan. Acquiring medicine in country may prove difficult or even impossible for you. I'm not an expert, but I'd caution against believing that it will be an easy time for you or myself in Japan. Many of the locals here are not overwhelmingly open-minded nor flexible in the way that they perceive the world.

It's a very rule-bound society, and people that are 'different' or mentally impaired are not often seen well. Even aspergers is viewed as a "dangerous" disorder since some allegedly aspergers guy killed someone. It has been my experience that Japanese are often by nature conformist, and there is not a great deal of tolerance extended towards social deviance regardless of the reason or cause.

The short answer to your question is that you are likely better off buying this medicine overseas or bringing a supply with you. If you can acquire it in Japan it's unlikely the NHS will cover it.

 

[Msnoir]

Okay thank you Well normally I wouldn't speak about it with people, that I don't know well. It doesn't concern them. Even here in Denmark it still a tabu. A lot cannot understand it.

 

[Lestat84]

I am someone with tourette syndrome and asperger's syndrome. Based on my own experience, and general knowledge of autism spectrum disorders) they are in the majority of the world considered an actual illness or medical condition. I have been diagnosed by a neurologist and they are treated as such. Also in my personal experience, I get along extremely well with Japanese people. From the ones I know, they're very friendly and accepting. In fact, the more "black and white" social customs in Japanese society better suit someone like us with Autism spectrum disorders. In most cases, our brains are hard-wired to think in terms of "right and wrong". We have trouble perceiving the "grey area" or the things that are in between right and wrong. The tendency of Japanese ( in my experience, I have not lived in japan so someone correct me if I'm wrong here) that I have met to abide by social rules that are very standardized in the sense that most people perceive politeness and manners the same way. It's hard to articulate, but usually (again, from what I can tell) there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" to behave. Most people perceive these ways the same way, making it very easy for someone like us to understand as it is only one or the other. I have never run into a situation where I've offended any of the Japanese I know because the rules are pretty straightforward. I hope that helps.

 

[Msnoir]

I agree with you. Lestat. That is one of the reason that I need structure in my life, and a reason why I like the Japanese culture.
You say hello, when you meet people, you say goodbye when you leave, and you say thank you for your food, and so on. You know what the rules are out in the public. I red a post here on the forum some days ago, about one asking if the Japanese people were a people with ODC in general, because of the clear way, the social rules are. I see it more as healthy. You know where you come from, and you know were you are going.
In Denmark every second woman is dealing with stress. We are a country where every 5 person is either having a mental disease, or have relatives that do. Children are misbehaving against each other and so on. This is because moral, tradition, and the family is becoming extinct, general. Most are self centered and are seeking material wealth, before common health. Both mentally and physically,

 

[edogaijin]

Hm, it's been my experience that the rules aren't always that straight forward, particularly if you do not speak Japanese. In the office place it's fairly obvious that unpaid overtime is expected. But due to legal reasons, they cannot come out and say it.

 

[WonkoTheSane]

They are illnesses, edogaijin has no idea what he's talking about regarding sociopathy or Autism Spectrum Disorders. Please reference the DSM-V if you need more information.

 

[edogaijin]

Mental Illness !== personality disorder

The fact you equate sociopathy with autistic traits is proof enough you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about lol

 

[WonkoTheSane]

I didn't equate the two, I noted you don't know what you're talking about concerning either.

 

[the_last_one]

hi am new here I am autistic and and have adhd, anger issues, anxiety and depression and love the Japanese Culture I want to move there and learn the Language I am reading about it and seems it is not really a good place to live with autism but sill want to go what will happen

 

[Majestic]

Honestly, anger issues, depression and anxiety are all things that will potentially become worse in Japan, where foreigners often find themselves frustrated and isolated due to various issues (both external and internal).

Japan is a country where you are expected to function at a high level despite whatever ailments you may have. I might even say it has a low tolerance level for people with these kinds of chronic issues, as cruel as that sounds. In general, people in Japan don't talk too much about their health issues, and almost never discuss issues of mental health except with their closest of friends. Public displays of anger, and any kind of display of hostility is looked down upon. This rule is especially rigid if you are a foreigner, where violent confrontation could easily land you in jail, even if you feel you were in the right.

What will enable you to function here in Japan is resiliency, a high level of situational awareness, a positive attitude, endless curiosity, etc... The best thing for you to do would be to visit Japan to see what it is like firsthand. And of course before you visit you can learn as much Japanese language as possible, which will be a benefit to you no matter what you decide to do.

 

[the_last_one]

thank you