[Mental disorders of Japanese people in western Europe]

As the number of Japanese going abroad has increased in recent years, so has there been an increase in the number of Japanese who seek for help at the Consulate of Japan due to problems relating to mental disorders. Three Consulates in Europe (London, Madrid, Paris), that had experience dealing with mental disorder cases, which had been brought for various reasons, were visited in order to investigate the state of the situation among Japanese with mental disorders in Europe. The following findings were obtained: 1. The number of mental disorder cases treated by the Consulates of Japan in Europe from April 1988 to March 1989 was 37 out of the total 147 in the whole world or 25%. 2. Among them were 7 cases in Great Britain (London), 5 cases in Spain (Madrid), and 11 cases in France (Paris), all of which required tremendous effort to resolve. 3. Among possible additional measures that are needed are support by local Japanese Organizations, development of a system of medical care manned by Japanese physicians on a rotation basis, a medical escort system for returning patients to Japan, overseas insurance and telephone counseling as well as measures to prevent manifestation of mental disorders overseas.