According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, depression is one of the mood disorders, affecting about 6 out of 100 people in Japan, and the exact cause of the onset is unknown. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for top athletes to suffer, and in the basketball world, the news that Rui Hachimura was delayed in joining the team due to mental health problems is fresh in his memory. The importance of mental health care is increasing year by year, but it is also true that there is no system in place for the parties to self-solve the problem. The original master, who himself experienced two depressions, continues to ride his bicycle today in an attempt to change this situation.
A combination of various stresses causes two depressions
──Please introduce yourself again.
I’m a 25-year-old master. After experiencing depression twice, I am engaged in public awareness activities related to mental health. As part of his activities, he travels around Japan by bicycle to deepen exchanges with local people through basketball, and visits mental health and welfare centers and school sites all over the country to give lectures. increase.
Originally from Kinki University High School, I entered Keio University. He has been a member of the basketball club since he was a student, and in high school he participated in the Inter-High and Winter Cups and was selected as a member of the National Athletic Meet. In college, the best 16 is the best grade in Incare.
──I think you are a human resource that can be called a basketball elite, but first of all, how did you develop depression?
I think I had a great basketball life. However, when I was in the third year of college, I had troubles in sports and various relationships, and when I was 21, I developed depression. At that time, I was also self-harming. There are several reasons why I got sick, but I was mentally depressed when I had a lot of troubles in the relationships and family relationships within the team. At that time, the captain, who was one level higher, left the team just before the autumn league match, and the first reason was that he was worried and worried about whether the organization could remain as it is. Also, at that time, job hunting began, and I was worried about family relationships, so that was the trigger.
To be honest, I have had problems with family relationships since I was a high school student, and it was financially important. I went to a university in Kanto because I wanted to do it at a higher level. However, because I made the most expensive choice to stay in the Kanto area, I was under pressure to not fail in job hunting, and various stresses overlapped.
“First of all, I thought I would deal with my illness.”
──What made you decide to overcome depression and start your current activities?
I talked about how it sank when I was in college, but even after I became a member of society, I had the experience of sinking again. At that time, I think there were many people who were suffering from what was called “corona depression,” and I think I was one of them. The harder I worked, the more I sank, and after a few months of sticking, I took a leave of absence from the company and had a medical treatment period.
What made me positive was that I was contacted by a friend who had been playing on the same team since I was in junior high school, and I had time to share my worries with that friend. At that time, I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but being able to talk to him was one of the big opportunities to be positive. The friend also confessed that he had a mentally depressed experience since he became a member of society, and the time he talked to him became a very reassuring time for me, and it seemed to be saved. I had a feeling. After that, I began to think positively about how to live in the future.
When I thought about how to live a positive life in the future, I first decided to deal with my illness. Then, the method of facing oneself is to talk about one’s experience to people who have similar troubles and to have them change. I thought that moving like that would be a way to live positively in my long life in the future, so I decided to start sending activities.
──I think there are various ways to send it, but why did you choose to go around Japan by bicycle?
At first, I thought I would send it on SNS without leaving the company, but in an era when there is so much information, even if I do my best to send it there, it will not reach the person I want to deliver. I was wondering. In that case, I think that it would be better to go to the mental health and welfare center used by such people, or to go directly to the school site, so I feel like I started traveling around Japan.
──What do you want to convey the most now?
What I want to convey is that there are people like this. Looking back on my situation at that time, there was definitely something like a hurdle to go to a support agency or psychiatry. Some of them feel reassured by talking to the parties. Let them know that there is a person like me in the facility, and if those who go to the facility want to connect, let them know. That’s why, first of all, I want you to know my existence.
