風鈴さんの おぼえた日記 - 2021年1月2日(土)

After the void of 2020, here's hoping time restarts in 2021
Saturday. January 2
2021年はいつものように


When you're a psychiatrist for a long time, you see funny things happen sometimes. Among them is the realization that many of the patients I see are of the same generation as me. In my 20s and 30s, I had the opportunity to see many younger patients, and since my 40s I've had more patients who are women around 40 or 50.
長いあいだ精神科医をやっていると、不思議なことがいろいろと起こる。「いつも同世代の患者さんが多い」というのもそのひとつだ。２０代から３０代にかけては若い患者さんを診る機会が多く、４０代になるとアラフォー、アラフィフの女性の来院が増えたのだ。

But now, while I still have middle aged patients coming in as before, there's also been a gradual rise in older people. If you think about it, it seems obvious; there's probably lots of people who look at the clinic's website, check its doctors' ages, and choose someone because they're of the same generation as them.
そして、いま。ミドル世代は相変わらず来院するが、次第にシニアが増えてきた。よく考えればそれは当然で、クリニックのホームページで医師の年齢を確認して「この人なら同世代だから」と選ぶ人も多いのだろう。

Perhaps younger people come to the hospital once or twice and decide, "This doctor is so much older than me, so we don't see eye to eye." But while they might be stepping away, people of the same generation as the doctor are subconsciously continuing to come in and be seen by them.
もしかしたら、若い世代で一、二度来院して「この医者、ずいぶん年上で話が合わないな」と離れる人もいる一方で、同じような年齢の人はなんとなく通い続けてくれているのかもしれない。

For that reason, I now have more opportunities to speak with people aged about 60 and older at my consultation room. I've come to feel a kind of solidarity on many occasions, and tend to say things like, "That's so relatable," as if the patients were my former classmates.
そういうわけで、いまは診察室で還暦あたりやさらに年上の人たちと話すことが増えた。こちらもつい同級生感覚で「そういうこと、ありますよね」などと意気投合する場合も多い。

More than any other topic, the thing I've heard most recently is "this year was tough." People who were expecting to be reappointed to positions after reaching retirement age have seen their arrangements canceled due to the effects of the new coronavirus, and there are people whose mothers live in care homes who are unable to see their grandchildren living far away. When I hear these things, I feel real empathy for them and say, "That's hard isn't it."
最近の話題は、なんといっても「今年はたいへんでした」ということ。定年で再任用の予定が新型コロナウイルスの影響で取りやめに、施設に入っている母にも遠くに住んでいる孫にも会えない、といった話を聞いて「たいへんですよね」と心から同情している。

One day, a man told me this: "I thought this year would be my last hurrah in my business, but because of corona it came to a complete stop. It's the same as if this year had never happened at all."
ある時、そんな男性のひとりがこう言った。「やっている事業、今年は最後のがんばりと思っていましたが、コロナのせいで全面ストップです。今年はなかったと同じようなものですよ」

I responded, "What if you thought of this year as not having happened?" He then said, "I'd like to think that but, look, in just this year my white hair and the fat around my stomach have increased this much. I can't just ignore these things like they never happened."
私が「いっそ今年はなかったものと考えるのはどうですか」と言うと、彼はこう返した。「そうしたいけどほら、この１年で白髪とおなかの脂肪が増えちゃって。これだけは“なかったこと”になってくれないんですよ」

When I heard that, I laughed out loud and said, "Right, the body is the only thing that's accumulating the years." This is a probably a feeling that young people don't quite understand yet.
それを聞いて「そうですよね、からだだけは確実に年齢を重ねてるんですよね」と思わず大笑いしてしまった。これは若い人にはなかなかわからない感覚なのではないか。

In German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's book "Faust", the eponymous lead says for time to "abide, you are so fair." But this year in particular, there are probably many people out there who do have a sense of time having stopped. This hasn't been beautiful, but rather something that has been hard and tough on many people.
「時よ止まれ、おまえは美しい」というのはドイツの文豪、ゲーテの「ファウスト」に出てくるセリフだっただろうか。でも、今年に限っては本当に時間が止まった感覚を味わった、という人も少なくないだろう。そして、それは決して美しくはなく、つらかったりしんどかったりすることも多かった。

I hope that next year can be one in which time advances as it always has, and people of generations both young and old can see through their intentions and plans.
(Japanese original by Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
来年こそは、時間がいつものように進み、若い世代もシニアも予定や計画を着々とこなしていける年になるように、と願っている。
（日本語原文　香山リカ精神科医）毎日新聞　香山リカのココロの万華鏡