Western values 'are causing mental illness'

[andrewducker]

THE rapid spread of Western business practices in Japan has causedwidespread mental illness and is responsible for a deepeningdemographic crisis, government officials say.

A spokesman for the Mental Health Institute said that the emphasis on individual performance was driving Japanese workers — particularly those in their thirties — to mental turmoil. “People tend to be individualised under the new working patterns,” he said. “When people worked in teams they were happier.”

From here.

I'm not entirely convinced, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. Anyone got any links on what keeps people sane, and how society does exactly the opposite?

Comments

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

And saying "globalisation bad" is just silly. I like being able to eat fruit from Israel, read comics from the USA and (much as the accents can be problematic) I still prefer someone answering the phone when I call the bank rather than just being trapped in an endless touchtone phone cascade loop system. Sure, there are many, many bad aspects of globalisation, but not all of them.

This is why I tend not to involve myself in internet debates. In my particular experience, which is of course what I was refering to, the multinational's I've worked for have shifted responsibilties from country to country and put a lot of people I know, myself included, out of work. This is not pleasant, hence "bad".

[andrewducker]

Of course, the French person who now gets your job may be very happy about this.