Adolescent Medicine & Child Psychology

Biography

Maree Sugai is an Associate Professor, faculty member and researcher at Tohoku University of Community Service and Science (KU) in Japan. She has been teaching in Japan for over twenty years and has published and presented at social science, psychology and behavioral science conferences in America, Canada, London and Japan. Her background is in socio-linguistics and medical anthropology and her thesis was in intercultural communication. Maree’s current research area is in depressive disorders, adolescent psychosis, and acute social withdrawal/hikikomori. Maree has worked as a director on the board of governors of a mental health rehabilitation center in Sendai (where the March, 2011 tsunami and magnitude 9 earthquake occurred). Maree has held this position in Japan for fifteen years; assisting in rehabilitation activities for families who have lost members to suicide and for those who have suffered severe trauma, or are severely depressed or psychotic. Maree is also Vice Director of the International Global Exchange Center for University student exchange programs in rural Japan.

Abstract

Abstract : The role of cultural context in the depressive disorder of hikikomori in rural Japan