We are living in an era of rapid change, uncertainty, and complexity.
An era where the number of people suffering from “psychological stress” is increasing.
In March 2020, people's lives changed significantly due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
Changes in lifestyles, including a decrease in human interaction, an increase in working from home, and a diversification of values. Furthermore, psychological problems are becoming more prominent due to the stagnation of the Japanese economy, various social problems, uncertainty about the future, feelings of loneliness, and worries.
As the number of people suffering from anxiety and psychological stress has increased, the number of people seeking psychiatric treatment and counseling has been on the rise in recent years .
Additionally, the number of people seeking new lifestyles is increasing due to diversification of values.
Figure 1 shows that there are more people who suffer from psychological stress (mental illness) in their work or life due to concerns about the uncertain future, questioning their way of life, and feelings of anxiety. It can be seen that there has been an increasing trend in recent years.
Furthermore, looking at the results by age, Figure 2 shows that the number of patients between the ages of 35 and 65 is the highest, and the number of patients between the ages of 0 and 14 is even smaller. Factors such as work and family life can be inferred.
We are living in an era of rapid change, uncertainty, and complexity.
These days, we are faced with uncertain factors such as the effects of the new coronavirus and the situation in Ukraine, as well as globalization, the development of ICT and AI technology, stagnation in consumption due to deflation and rising prices, diversification of values, and single-person households. We are now living in an era of rapid change, uncertainty, and complexity (VUCA), with an increase in the number of people living with disabilities and widening disparities.
