Depression

I befriended this guy a few months ago and enjoys his company. Recently he told me that he is having a sick feeling (depression maybe?) towards his job. Due to this reason, he has stomach polyps (??) and suffers from daily back aches, stomach aches and headaches. He also vomits stomach water. The hospital prescribed him many types of medication and sometimes he goes to the hospital for I.V. His doctor told him rest is very important and not think so much. Sometimes he goes for counseling too. I know he works for 16 hours on average daily. Has anyone encountered this or knows anyone who has this sickness? How can one overcome this? Is this a common sickness? Is quitting his job the best solution? I feel sad that I cannot help him.

he should change his job asap. And take long vacations.

I'm afraid there is nothing you can do.

Well, I'm no doctor, but if it's something like shinkeisei-ien, yes, it's common to a certain extent.

You can discuss these things free of charge at your local public health center (hokenjo). They often can provide interpreters free of charge as well.

Uco

I looked up your word and it comes up to "Anorexia Nervosa" which means eating disorder. I don't think it's this illness.

Because he is still eating but when his stomach acts up, he will have no appetite. Are the symptoms that he's getting common in Japan?

Is resigning his job the only way? I think maybe he dislikes his job and environment, so these accumulated inside of him. And he works very long hours daily.

Shinkeisei-ien is not eating disorder, it can be tranlated as "neurotic gastrisis" or "non-ulcer dyspepsia".

It is obvious that he's not fit to work, and if working environment and/or long-hour work is making him depressed, he should at least take days off.
Most companies should have rules on sick leave, based on Labor Standard Act.

No, I'm not talking about eating disorder (kyoshokusho) at all. According to my dictionary, shinkeisei-ien is "neurotic gastritis" in English, but again, I am not a doctor.

Like I mentioned, you should discuss this with the hokenjo. They can often guide you to groups for people in similar situations.

Either way, if he trusts his doctor and the doctor says he can continue his job, than I see no reason for him to quit.

Anyway, you should ask him what he is diagnosed as, and tell that to the hokenjo as you ask for advise.

Magonote & Uco

Thanks for your replies.

I couldn't find anything on "neurotic gastritis" so I tried searching "neurotic" alone and did some reading. I'm quite astonished to find that the symptoms are what he is experiencing.

It says the patient should stop intake of caffeine and alcohol, but the doctor did not advice him. He does drink both - coffee daily and alcohol on some days.

His boss allows him to take sick off days and visits to hospital intermittently, but in a disgruntingly manner. Apparently, it is not enough and does not help because he ends up having more backlog when he returns to work. He does not get paid if he takes sick leaves.

I agree that he should have a long break - but how long? The doctor supported him by issuing several official letters to his company. However, nobody came back to him. The last resort will be to resign. But he needs to feed himself and refuse to depend on his family. (Man's pride?)

This company has quite a presence in Japan. Is this the standard way how Japanese firms work? It's scary and I cannot imagine what the smaller firms are doing.