Retired Husband Syndrome
December 29th 2008 13:10
Takako Terakawa
Takako Terakawa shares her cramped, two-room flat in Osaka with a cat the size of a small child, 400 teddy bears and her husband.
The bears are neatly stored, and filed according to colour and size, in a cabinet in her bedroom.
She brings them out to inspect and groom them each day.
As she does so, her whole body relaxes.
This seems to be what she lives for.
The bears are a replacement for her husband.
The bears are neatly stored, and filed according to colour and size, in a cabinet in her bedroom.
She brings them out to inspect and groom them each day.
As she does so, her whole body relaxes.
This seems to be what she lives for.
The bears are a replacement for her husband.
Source: BBC News
Last year, as a component for my end-of-year oral examination for Japanese, I was required to take on a detailed study topic. My chosen topic was "Shujin Zaitaku Sutoresu Shoukougun" (Retired Husband Syndrome, hereon RHS). It's quite an unusual topic to investigate but something I found quite intriguing.
What is RHS?
The syndrome is noted to greatly impact Japan's boomer generation. It is said to affect 60% of women aged between 55-60 years old. To sum it up, it is when the wife develops an "allergic reaction" towards her husband as he approaches retirement (or is retired).
These symptoms can be ranging from nausea, depression, hives, asthma and ulcers.
The best way to describe the development is to illustrate a typical case scenario. During the era of the Boomer Generation in Japan, the common nuclear family structure was that the husband is the breadwinner - working 8am until 5pm (in many occasions, much, much more) - and the wife is the homemaker.
Initially, the husband does his best to spare time for his family. However, as time goes by and he is promoted or gains more responsibilities at work, he ends up working more and sacrifices the activities formerly enjoyed by the couple/family.
To make up for the losses, the wife picks up other recreational activities and simply gets used to living without her husband. A sad state of affairs, perhaps. However, what's a wife to do? Her husband is working day and night to support the family and there's a strong obligation to feel appreciation. Actually, it is expected that wives show nothing but adoration to their hard-working husbands.
Keep in mind that Japanese people in particular avoid speaking their minds/hearts directly. Making direct statements is often seen as rather rude. There is also a strong cultural belief that people ought to know their place and "be productive".
As years pass, husband and wife live separate lives. Then the husband retires. All of a sudden, he's home full time and pretty much shattering the wife's usual daily schedule. The stress experienced by the wife leads to negative health impacts.
Funny thing is, many husbands fail to notice.
Comfort and Cure
Dr. Nobuo Kurokawa was the man to have coined the term "RHS" as well as to have proposed possible solutions to the issue. It seemed as though cures/solutions were categorised into the following options:
A) Divorce
This is perhaps the easiest option many wives had chosen to take. In fact, it is said that RHS is one of the leading reasons for the increased divorce rates among the elderly.
B) Wife distances herself
Even in retirement, the wife insists with maintaining her own lifestyle and stays away from her husband as along as possible.
C) Husband changes his ways
Happier case studies show husbands taking initiative to learn about how to do chores and such to help their wives. In many cases, this change in attitude comes as a delightful surprise to the wives and greatly improves circumstances.
Local communities have also developed clubs where husbands can gather and learn various household skills such as cooking (there's a club called "Men in the Kitchen" which teaches husbands how to cook). It's been said that there have been more than 2000 of such clubs opened.
Of course, being a psychological condition, there are numerous possibilities for what could be the best solution.
However, with changes in gender roles amongst the younger generations, I doubt that this issue would continue (unless something such as "Retired Wife Syndrome" develops). Although what could be suggested is the potential rise in more similar scenarios overseas.
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Sources/Further Reading:
BBC News
RHS - Wikipedia
Western Journal of Medicine
Washington Post
ABC News
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