Antidepressant question

3 comments

1. Your docs recommendation is kinda worthless. What drugs are we talking about?

2. You should bring with you any documentation that supports your diagnosis. You’ll need to be diagnosed by a doctor in Japan, but it’ll help if you can show you’ve been diagnosed before.

   I take medication for ADHD, which is highly controlled. Only licensed doctors can prescribe it. I have no idea if antidepressants are treated this way but you’ll want to find out. It may help to post the medication you take.

   As for cost, health insurance covers 70% of the cost of medication. My prescription costs somewhere around ¥4500 per month, which is significantly less than what it costs in the U.S.

3. Bring as much documentation as you can. Even if your doctor writes a perscription, they are not going to refill that medicine unless it’s by a Japanese Doc.

   To me, you have several things you can do.

   Firstly, bring atleast a 6 month supply into the country with you incase you have a problem finding a doctor on short notice. Your current psych can do this by increasing the number of pills you take. This is how I got in with 3+ months of my anti depressant when I went for the first time.

   Next, you’ll have to be diagnosed by a Japanese psychiatrist in order to receive the treatment. If you have documentation saying that you’ve been on this treatment plan for a while they are more likely to just do a cursory evaluation and then continue with the treatment plan.

   I never went to a psych in Japan but my buddy had to and he had to go to atleast two before he could finally find one who agreed with his treatment plan. I would look for a foriegn psych in Japan that treats international people.

   Mental health is very stigmatized in Japan and most of them operate on the condition that less is more.