Articles
The Echoes of Childhood:
Navigating Political Distress and Uncertainty
On the evening of Election Day 2024, I was so emotionally invested in the outcome that I couldn’t sit still next to my husband as we watched the coverage unfold. Instead, I paced around the house shouting . . . more
Complex Trauma? ADHD? Or Both?!
The other day, I listened to the Mel Robbins podcast about her delayed diagnosis of ADHD at age 47, which was her accidental discovery in the process of getting her teenage son evaluated for ADHD. She said she was flabbergasted and wondered why she hadn’t discovered this . . . . more
Published by The Foundation for Post-Traumatic Healing and CompleTrauma Research (CPTSD Foundation)
Understanding the Complexity of Complex PTSD (CPTSD)
Growing up in Japan with a workaholic surgeon father and an often-absent socialite mother, I was raised by a revolving cast of caregivers who worked at my father's hospital. An unstable home environment and lack of . . . more
Published by the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADDA)
Wallaby To The Rescue
As a child, I learned to cope with loneliness by seeking comfort from animals. Even now, in middle age, I still find solace in spending time with our family dog, taking care of I can't drink and don't want to smoke pot (which is legal in my state), so my passion for animals seems like a wholesome alternative.
Not so long ago, during my son's high school years, his emotional volatility overlapped with my menopausal irritability. . . more
Published by Grand Dame Literary
PERINATAL Health Care ISSUES of Japanese WOMEN
Download a chapter covering prenatal care in Japan by Sachiko Oshiko and myself.
In Transcultural Aspects of Perinatal Health Care (National Perinatal Association, 2004)
Reflection on Complex PTSD (Part 1)
Growing up in Japan with a workaholic surgeon father, an often-absent socialite mother, and two older brothers who were seldom around, I was mostly raised by a revolving door of caregivers. This unstable home environment likely made me a melancholic, anxious child prone to insomnia. Beginning in the first grade, my status-conscious parents forced me to attend brutally competitive schools in Tokyo that required long, suffocating train commutes, which only exacerbated my fear and anxiety. When my family committed me to a mental hospital for a psychotic episode at age 17, the doctors attributed the cause to emotional neglect and family dysfunctions …more
Published by the CTPSD Foundation.
Reflection on CPTSD (Part 2): Hikikomori (shut-ins) – A Mental Health Crisis in Japan
Sometimes I wonder what might have happened to me had I stayed in Japan. Might I have joined the million-plus ranks of hikikomori (shut-ins withdrawn from society) that exist in Japan today? This is an unsettling thought. It’s difficult to dismiss the hikikomori issue as I can understand their plight, at least partially. I can also imagine that having a mental health condition like CPTSD in the rigid Japanese sociocultural climate might make me more vulnerable and susceptible to becoming a hikikomori . . . more
Published by the CTPSD Foundation.