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My Japan Syndrome -
03-25-2011, 02:13 AM
Hey all.
I have what some people call 'My Japan Syndrome.' I have it bad. I've had it for what must be coming up 5 years. It's not a phase. Basically I didn't even know there was a name for this problem until a few days ago. And so now I know, I want to bring it up here. For anyone who doesn't know, My Japan Syndrome is a non-official term coined for people who have a strong dislike of other foreigners in Japan, or having a strong interest in it. I probably have the worst case of this that anyone has heard of. As stated I've had it for around 5 years, which I'd say is pretty bad. It's only gotten worse since then. It has literally taken over my life as an obsession. So much so, that when I actually went to Japan, I actually was subconsciously making a note of all the White people I saw wherever I was that day, then making a diary of the number I saw. Being home isn't better. I constantly scour the web e.g. Youtube, Facebook etc to find people who are obsessed with Japan. Every single day. I then basically feel searing hatred, but can't do anything. I copy their profile link, and forever keep an eye on them. I feel worse and worse the more Japan-related things they post. I literally feel suicidal when I see these people obsessing over Japan. If possible, and I have contact with them, I try anything I can to sway them but to no avail. I'll admit that I've even trolled some of these people to try and vent my frustrations with them. Still no change. I look over tourism numbers month after month. Jeez, I could probably recite all last years tourist numbers to Japan month by month, country by country I've seen them so many times. I realise that posting this here will probably cause much hatred towards myself. I'm fine with that. You can call me names, you can say I'm immature, stupid, a terrible person, whatever. I know I'm all these, so if you do want to insult me then go ahead, but it's a waste of time as I know I'm all of it. And in case anyone suspects, no I am not trolling. I only want to put this here in some miniscule hope that something someone posts can help me a great deal in getting rid of this. Yes, I do actually want to get rid of it. I don't like feeling like this. I'm considering hypnotherapy, but it's a bit too expensive for now. So I guess what I'm asking is, has anyone here ever had this? Any tips on anything I can do, or anything you can say? Generally peope on JF don't bother me, as you don't really get too obsessed. I think there's only one or two on here that have caught my attention. People who catch my attention are the kinds who can't go 2 status' without mentioning something Japan or writing in Japanese, and who cant stop using '^______^', as well as joining countless Japan groups. Please feel free to ask any questions too. I'll answer the best I can.  I don't have any mental problems that may have brought this on, besides mild OCD. That may have just compacted the problem. 
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03-25-2011, 02:35 AM
Mild OCD? I'm afraid it's major OCD if you're obsessing over obsessions....
I would definitely look into talking to a psychiatrist or some other therapist. It is not a healthy thing if something beyond your control occupies so much time and energy that your health may be in danger.... I don't hate you. Hate is too strong a word to begin with. I don't know you, but am concerned your priorities are a bit out of whack. I don't have the right to judge you, nor do I want to. I don't know what prompted this, but, sadly you're not alone. Hopefully you will find some balance and equilibrium in your concern and can deal with this affliction.
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03-25-2011, 03:52 AM
Sounds like you desperately need some other interests and definitely need to take a break from anything Japan related for awhile. It seems you are very possesive of anything Japan related, almost like intellectual property. You believe no one can know as much as you or have the insights you have and you take great offence at those who also have any interest in the country. At least you recognise you have a problem which is a good first step. Like any addiction (which this sort of is) you need to wean yourself off it or even go cold turkey. And you need to fill the void with something else which is why I suggest getting some other interests. Basically you need to stop doing what you are currently doing. Accept that other people will have an interest in Japan but attempt to realise it doesn't matter. Japan will still be Japan regardless of what a few foreigners think about it!
As suggested you may need some professional assistance to do this.
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03-25-2011, 05:41 AM
This is interesting. I can tell that I had a bit of this in retrospect-- not NEARLY on the level that you have it though. For me it was wanting to isolate myself from English-speaking foreigners to help learn the language. That worked fantastically, but after a while I realized that I would almost go out of my way to avoid people, which was rude. Strangers are another issue, but doing that to people I already knew was getting to me. That didn't last too long, but I think it was too negative of a thing for me.
For me it wasn't a process of realizing it was a problem and working at it. It's just that by the time it worked itself out I could see that I was becoming a little weird in retrospect. However, your case is definitely strange. I think you seem to realize this yourself, but solving your problem isn't a matter of warming up to foreigners. I think it's deeper than that. In other words, if it wasn't "My Japan Syndrome" then it'd be something else, I'm afraid. I think it's ironic (not in a ha-ha kind of way) that you ended your post by saying you don't have any mental problems other than OCD. From the way it sounds, I think you have more than a minor case of OCD and probably some other problems. The whole data collection thing reeks of this in my opinion. I think you may very well need professional help... but I'm not so sure. I think this could just be a matter of finding better ways to spend your time. Doing something productive might be key for you. Defining productive might be difficult, but doing something that makes you feel better about yourself (aka positive things) would be a step up. You need to kind of dig deep into this and try to find out what the root of all this is. For example, what kind of motivation do you have for doing this? A lot of what you are doing seems irrational as these foreigners that you're concerned about would otherwise have no contact with you. It's like you're going out of your way to make these confrontations with yourself. I see a similarity in this and in people who like to cause discord-- which I think people do in order to kind of liven things up in their lives or to look for attention. Are you really bored or lonely or something like that? Maybe you just need to take a break from this irrational fantasy land that you've created and just get out there in the real world and mingle with other people. What do you do with your time? Maybe you could work on your time management and try to slowly shave off these weird activities from your daily life. Do you smoke, drink, play games, use the internet, or do anything else habitually?
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03-26-2011, 12:39 AM
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03-26-2011, 01:28 PM
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03-26-2011, 01:41 PM
Perhaps realizing that Japan isn't any more or less awesome than any other country, might help.
You can evenly obsess about anyone that likes any country and become a global tourism travel expert lol. I avoid English speaking friends here as I'm learning the language, I don't feel it's all that bad, I don't go very far out of my way but it's also part of wanting to experience this culture, not just a dislocated version of my own. Oh and I'm way better than you when it comes to Japan. For sure. Does that irritate you?  I mean I'm still here, doing all the things you wish you could be doing, and doing them better than you can imagine. Does that also bother you? v=^-^=b
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03-26-2011, 05:19 PM
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03-27-2011, 05:19 PM
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It's just a shame it's so expensive, and I'm skeptical to how successful psychiactric treatment is... Thanks It's nice to not be attacked for this thread, I appreciate it.Me either. Thanks for the good wishes! Quote:
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I think that's kinda true... but I don't like people who are more like... they THINK they know loads about Japan, but they just don't expand their knowledge beyond certain pop culture. I'll admit I'm no expert on everything, but I've definitely spent many years absorbing from every aspect of Japanese culture and history I can. I'm afraid my OCD makes that very difficult. I'd drive myself crazy (well... crazier) if I couldn't keep a check on my obsession. I will most certainly try my best to cut down though, to hopefully get some kind of result. And the thing is, the internet is what mostly feeds this. But I use the internet at night when I can't really do any other activities. Thanks for the advice. Quote:
Yeah, but n the time scale I've had it it just doesn't seem to want to go away of its own accord, even when I realize there's something weird about it. And as written to one of the other posts, I've admitted it's probably major OCD like you say. If there is anything else up there, then it's definitely not obvious because I've done pretty high responsibility things in the past like flying aircraft. I agree that I don't know if anything but hypnotherapy would work. But I have tried every self help method and self-convincing you can imagine. I have absolutely no idea what my motivation stems from. It has just came and stuck. And for reasons I don't understand, it's an aggressive, unrelenting force. I think you have me there, I do create if for myself. I actively look for things that otherwise wouldn't present themselves to me. I agree with you about me being bored and lonely, I guess I am, and I can see you've attempted to make a connection with it. But I personally don't see how this can be a cause. I think even if I had friends 24/7 it wouldn't help. I've had friends who were interested in Japan, and even when true friends mention it I get a little uneasy. Terrible I know. And before anyone speculates, my friends didn't lose contact because of this obsession. It was with moving college issues etc. I don't smoke, drink or anything. BUT yes, I use the internet VERY much, through the night. Quote:
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Do you really think that I'd spend this much time writing all this out just for some trolling? Quote:
Not too much really. It's another strange thing about it. When someone has been there... for so long, and basically reasonably assimilates into the culture, those types of foreigners don't bother me that much. It's mainly tourists, people who talk about visiting, or people who talk about / plan on living there.
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