香山リカのココロの万華鏡：利己的なおとなたちへ ／東京

August 16, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
Kaleidoscope of the Heart: Learning not to jump to generalizations
香山リカのココロの万華鏡：利己的なおとなたちへ　／東京

Twitter has become a tool even among politicians to express their opinions. A tweet recently posted by a House of Representatives lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has stirred controversy. He wrote that claims made by students protesting against the government-sponsored security-related bills are "based on their self-centered and extremely egoistic thinking that they don't want to go to war," and he went on to say that it was "very regrettable."
　今や政治家も意見発信の場として活用する短文投稿サイト・ツイッター。そこに自民党の衆院議員が書き込んだ発言が物議をかもしている。安全保障関連法案に反対する活動を行う学生たちについて「彼ら彼女らの主張は『だって戦争に行きたくないじゃん』という自分中心、極端な利己的考えに基づく」と指摘し、「非常に残念だ」と述べたのだ。

After learning about this incident, I thought to myself that this politician could only understand war as a general, abstract concept. A war in reality is not "a battle between right and wrong." Those who fight in the front are young people with different personalities and dreams. Behind those youths, furthermore, are their families and lovers. If a young man dies in a battle, people around him will also face drastic changes in their lives.
　ああ、この議員は戦争を抽象的な「一般論」としてしか見られないんだな、と思った。現実の戦争は「正義と悪の戦い」などではなく、前線で戦うのはそれぞれ個性や人生の夢を持った若者たちなのだ。そして、その後ろには家族や恋人がおり、もし若者が戦死すると彼らの一生も大きく変わってしまうことになる。

Though it is different from the topic of war, I always think about the effects of generalizations. It is easy to say, "depression is on the rise because people have become weaker," and speak in generalities, but each patient is in a different situation, faced with different problems.
　戦争とは問題が異なるが、診察室でもいつも同じようなことを考える。「うつ病が増加しているのは弱い人が増えたからだ」などと一般論を語るのは簡単だが、患者さんたちにはそれぞれの事情や問題というものがある。

Suppose there is a man who is a breadwinner in a family and he goes to see a doctor after developing depression. The doctor tells him, "Generally speaking, if the cause of depression is work-related stress, a person would not feel better unless the burden placed on them is released." What if he quits his job after seeing the doctor? There will be a significant impact on his family -- they may have to sell their house, the children may have to transfer to different schools, the daughter's wedding may be called off, and ultimately this could lead to the parents' divorce. People's lives may be ruined by a casual suggestion by a doctor.
一家の大黒柱の男性がうつ病になって受診したとする。もしそこで医者が「仕事でのストレスでのうつ病の場合は、一般的には一度、負荷から解放されなければ治りませんね」などと安易に口にし、その人が退職したとしよう。そうすると家族は大きな影響を受ける。自宅を手放す、引っ越しや転校をしなければならない、娘の結婚が破談になる、ついには離婚に至る、などみんなの人生がめちゃめちゃになる場合もあるのだ。

I can't always pay attention to the details of every single patient I see, but I tell myself at my clinic, "I should not just give out general opinions. I have to pay attention to individual situations."
もちろん、いつもすべての個別の事情に目を配ることはできないのだが、診察室では自分にも常に「一般論ではいけない。ひとりひとりを見なければ」と言い聞かせている。

At Rikkyo University in Tokyo, where I currently work as a professor, a committee of faculty and staff members of the university released a statement against the controversial security-related bills with nearly 1,000 people signing to support the movement. In the statement, there is the following passage:
　私がいま所属している立教大学でも「安全保障関連法案に反対する立教人の会」が立ち上がり、声明に１０００人近くが賛同している。その中に、次のような一文がある。

"War is not an abstract idea. It means young people with names face each other on the battlefield and kill each other."
　「『戦争』とは決して抽象的なものではありません。具体的な名前をもった若者たちが戦場で向かい合い、殺し殺されることを意味します」

Today, teens and people in their 20s are not seeing war as something in the past or some generalities, but rather as something real, which they themselves may be dragged into.
　いま１０代、２０代の若者たちは「戦争」を過去のできごとや一般論としてでなく、自分がそこに巻き込まれるかもしれない、リアルなものとして実感しているのだろう。

For adults who can only consider young people's desire of not wanting to go to war as "selfish" and "egoistical," I recommend reading diaries, or even one memo, written by student soldiers who perished in the Pacific War and think about the lives of those who died.
「戦争に行きたくない」というその声を「自分中心、利己的」としか受け取れないおとなたちは、ひとつでもいい、太平洋戦争の戦没学生の手記を読んで、彼らの人生に思いをはせてみてほしい。

(By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
（精神科医）
毎日新聞　2015年08月11日　地方版
〔都内版〕