The New Era of Clinical Depression! - Early to bed and early to rise, eating right, and sunlight are the keys to good health!

The new age has come when one out of three people are diagnosed with clinical depression! That’s terrible. Clinical depression is a condition that is prevalent throughout Japanese society, so Sound House is no exception. Nowadays, many applicants for our job interviews list clinical depression as their illness. There are also many employees who are hesitant to openly list this disorder but end up showing symptoms after joining our company. I’m concerned that there are a number of people around me who I’m afraid might have clinical depression judging by their looks. Winter this year is particularly frigid which is difficult for people with clinical depression.

Back in the Showa Era, I had never heard of young people getting depressed. At least no one around me or none of my classmates were ever affected by it. If this is the case, is clinical depression ultimately a modern disorder? Why is this disorder increasing these days?

For the past several years, I have been saying that the cause of depression in young people is staying up late. My hypothesis is not based on any solid medical evidence, but I simply have come to the conclusion that the way in which people spend their time has gone through a drastic shift between the Showa and Reiwa eras. In the 1950’s, there was hardly any nightlife, and late TV shows were broadcasted from 11:00 p.m. In those days, 11:00 p.m. was considered midnight. Of course, there was nothing to do at night because there were no computers, smartphones, or social media, so we had to go to bed. Weren’t these the secrets to good health?

In this Reiwa Era, there are way too many things to do at nighttime. Convenience stores are open 24 hours as a matter of course. Many restaurants and stores are open until after midnight in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Even after 1:00 a.m., the streets are still full of people and the city lights never go out. For young people, smartphones are an essential item for their everyday lives. This allows them to communicate with anyone at any time through social media, connecting them to the world 24 hours a day, as well as talking with friends. This sounds like an amazing thing, but this is obviously the reason why they are suffering from sleep deprivation. Many children, even elementary school students, are using smartphones at midnight. They just can’t live without it. Their brains are unable to rest because of the sheer volume of information around them.

I’m the kind of guy who has never shown any symptoms of clinical depression. This may be because I was born in the Showa era and have never been a night owl. Some foods are known to promote serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that stabilizes mood, can be effective in combating depression. Red-fleshed fish, soy products, and dairy products contain this substance, and in fact, these are all my favorite foods. Whenever I go to an izakaya, the first thing I always eat is cold tofu without soy sauce. When I climb a mountain, I eat only plain yogurt for lunch! I eat a lot of cheese for Western dinners and I love red-fleshed fish! There is no way I can be diagnosed with clinical depression.

Another lesson that we can learn from serotonin synthesis is that lifestyle is actually important after all. The reason why depression is more likely to occur in the winter is due to the shorter daylight hours, rather than changes in temperature. In order for serotonin to be produced, we need to be exposed to some sunlight. Moreover, it is important to absorb sunlight through the eyes. Exercise also fixes the body clock and promotes good health. In short, the best defense against depression is to lead an orderly life based on the old adage, “early to bed and early to rise.”We also need to get enough sunlight and eat nutritious foods. It seems that my long-time assumption that staying up late is the cause of depression was not far off the mark.

These days, the problem is that young people are living a lifestyle that is opposite to medical advice. Not only do they stay up late at night, but many young people don’t like to be exposed to sunlight. With the recent beauty trend that favors pale skin, men have also begun to focus on achieving beautiful skin like women have always done, and in order to avoid spots and freckles and to improve the look of their skin, they have become reluctant to expose themselves to sunlight. People avoid outdoor sports and leisure activities, and many seem to hate to exercise. As for eating habits, many people just grab food from convenience stores. If they also stay up late at night looking at their phones and thinking about their worries, these bad habits are bound to damage their health. Many musicians stay up until the wee hours of the morning at their computers in the name of creating music, and many of them sleep until late in the afternoon. However, it turns out that these lifestyle choices only contributed to help to increase the likelihood of clinical depression.

The measures that help to avoid clinical depression are clear. However, I’m shocked that the large number of young people today just can’t follow it, even though they clearly know what they should do. If only we could go back to more primitive times, without electricity in our society. We could just sleep when it’s dark, get up when the sun rises, and work in the fields during the day. No one would ever suffer from depression ever again. Why do I even miss this era?