腐った医者に対する怒りを精神科医がぶちまけます！

Good evening, I'm Haga Takahiro, a psychiatrist. Today, I'd like to talk as briefly as possible about the issues of "rotten doctors" and private medical treatment, sharing my thoughts on these issues over my 20 years as a physician. Insurance-covered medical treatment is a fundamental premise of Japanese healthcare. This is a system in which the same medical procedure is charged the same points and the same fee nationwide, regardless of where or who performs the treatment. It's quite unique even from a global perspective, and an extremely excellent system. For example, in psychiatry, the points for 10 minutes of psychotherapy are the same whether the doctor is a super doctor with exceptional counseling skills or a doctor who is terrible at explaining things and has zero empathy. While technical fees should normally vary, they are deliberately kept uniform. This reflects the "etiquette" of the Japanese medical community, which states that "doctors should not be profit-driven, but should first serve their patients." Deep down, everyone wants money and a nice house. However, there's a rule that, publicly, money should be a secondary or tertiary priority. However, there are medical practices that completely ignore this etiquette and focus solely on making money. Typical examples include excessive elective medical care, cosmetic surgery, and evidence-free, self-paid intravenous treatments, stem cell treatments, and immunotherapy. Of course, I don't deny that there's a social need for cosmetic surgery itself. However, I find it extremely infuriating that a single injection or infusion costs 100,000 yen. They sell treatments with little scientific evidence at high prices, advertising claims like "It's effective for any disease" and "Dramatic improvement." Stem cells and iPS cells are areas where sound basic and clinical research is well advanced. However, there are clinics that distort the context of the research, claiming that "intravenous stem cell infusions can cure any disease, from incurable diseases to developmental disorders," and then charge high fees from desperate patients and their families. The same goes for immunotherapy, which is used in combination with standard treatments (such as anticancer drugs), often leading to the assumption that "if it works, it's my own achievement, and if it doesn't, it's the disease's fault." The key point is whether the treatment is being sold at a high price despite being "not covered by insurance" or "lacking scientific evidence." I have always been opposed to this kind of "strange medical treatment" that requires patients to pay for it themselves. So what about mental illnesses? There are certainly people who do not improve despite current standard treatments, such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and social withdrawal. There are also limits to medical care. Still, I believe that the golden path is "Do everything you can within the scope of Japan's covered medical care" "On top of that, thoroughly adjust your lifestyle." These two pillars are the key. For example, I often tell my patients about these lifestyle habits: Explore 15 minutes of light after waking up in the morning. Melatonin is secreted approximately 15 hours after light stimulation of the retina, leading to natural sleep. Eat a meal rich in carbohydrates in the morning. By allowing sugar to reach the liver, your body's internal clock switches on, helping to regulate your daily rhythm. Bed between midnight and 6 PM, limit screen time, and put your phone away. Exercise at least once a day until you're sweating a little. These lifestyle habits, accumulated over time, can help with areas that medication can't address. Ideally, I'd like to take the time to explain these things in detail during outpatient consultations, but time constraints exist within the scope of health insurance coverage. I want to make up for this shortfall "for free" through YouTube and other platforms. If you're going to spend money out of your own pocket, I think it's better to: Rather than expensive, mysterious IV infusions or stem cell treatments Appropriately priced counseling (approximately ¥10,000 per hour) Gyms and personal training to help you develop an exercise habit I hope people will use these resources for things that are "effective and have few side effects." Especially when it comes to mental illnesses, doctors and clinics tout counseling and private treatment options that cost 30,000 to 50,000 yen per hour, and sometimes even nearly 100,000 yen, which to me seems like a pure profit-mongering strategy. Recently, one of my patients lost a considerable amount of money on expensive private intravenous treatments, which made me tremble with rage. People trust doctors simply because they have a medical license, and end up paying even when it's difficult. As a doctor, I simply cannot accept a business that preys on such weaknesses. So, I sincerely ask my viewers: Please stop tr...