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＊Please contact myasudala@gmail.com if you have any questions＊

 

 

Hi, my name is Masae Yasuda, RN-BC, MN.  I founded “Eating Disorder Hope Japan” with a desire to create and improve treatment environments for Japanese people with eating disorders, and also for medical professionals.  

 

I currently live in Los Angeles, USA. As a psychiatric nurse in both the United States and Japan, I have experienced the treatment and nursing care of eating disorders in both countries. Also, as a patient, I have been treated for eating disorders in Japan and in the United States.

 

It has been a long time since I suffered from eating disorder for the first time in Japan. Unfortunately, at that time, I was not able to receive helpful treatment there even though I was working in the medical field. The messages I received and telling myself were “I just need to stop!”, “I am bad”, “Nobody cares”, “I am so alone”, or “I need to deal with myself without any help”. 

 

When I started working in the adolescent eating disorder unit in the US, I saw a very different circumstance and reality. In the US, with more patient-centered treatment, people were willing to help the patients and family and all medical staff were  supportive and kind.

Eating disorders are diseases that have the highest mortality rates among mental illness. 

 

In Japan, I want to offer a treatment program specializing in eating disorders so that people with eating disorders do not need to suffer alone.  

 

With this in mind, several years ago I started publishing Japanese translations of some of the very best books on the subject: “Life without ED” by Jenni Schafer, “8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder” by Carolyn Costin, “Bulimia” by Lindsay Hall, and “8 Keys workbook” by Carolyn Costin.

 

At the same time, I have invited Japanese medical professionals, (MDs, RNs, Psychologists, Dieticians, School nurses, students) to the United States to conduct study tours.  (Click here to request a UCLA Study Tour report(Japanese only). 

 

My mission is to improve the current Japanese eating disorder treatment environment. I want people with eating disorders and their loved ones in Japan to feel supported and cared for.  

 

 

I am proud to say that, in the field of medicine, Japan’s leading-edge medical technology, hospital facilities, medical equipment, and hospital staff work ethics are astonishing. 

 

But what about psychiatric care and nursing? Unfortunately, mental health and psychiatric illnesses are still hardly recognized in Japan. 

 

In particular, with regard to the field of eating disorders, it is not something that can be treated and cured by medication.  Recovery from eating disorders requires a more integrated approach -- a collaboration between internists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, psychologists, nutritionists, nurses, caseworkers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers, parents, family members, and the patient himself/herself. 

 

The prevalence of Eating Disorders in Japan is said to be about the same as in the United States.

 

However, in truth, the number of patients with eating disorders in Japan is actually unknown for various reasons, including unclear diagnostic criteria, lack of treatment facilities, and different names of diagnoses for prescription purposes.  

And in Japan, many of medical professionals believe eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, etc.) are the illness not completely recovered, and it is a life long struggle like an addiction,  but I strongly believe that is not the case. 

I would like to create a treatment program in Japan specializing in eating disorders so that everyone who suffers from this deadly disease can receive optimal treatment and support. 

 

An eating disorder is far more complicated than “eating” or “not eating”. Recovery requires much more work in addition to eating regular nutritious meals. 

 

Maybe just “eating”, “not eating”, “weight”, “body shape” are simple things for most of people, but people who develop an eating disorder struggle with self-values, beliefs, and thoughts, causing many different uncomfortable negative emotions.

 

It is too difficult to fight against this illness alone. By all means, you need different medical experts’ assistance and support.

 

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