Acceptance of mental health and mental health clinics?

honestly it's a mixed bag. japanese psychiatrists are very diagnosis-heavy but often rely on questionnaires rather than in-depth conversation, so you might get labeled with something generic like "adjustment disorder" if you don't push. for adhd specifically, you'll probably need a specialist clinic like nemuro clinic in shibuya because most general clinics won't touch it for teens.

as a teenage girl, yeah, there's a real risk of being told it's just "seishun-ki" (adolescence) or that you're overthinking. the older doctors especially can be dismissive. i'd recommend going to a clinic in a younger area like shimokitazawa or kichijoji where the staff are more used to students. also, bring a parent if you can, it helps with the "lazy" assumption.

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language barrier is real fyi. a lot of clinics have english-friendly staff listed but you show up and they only have one person who speaks english and they're not the doctor. there's a place called te to te clinic in yoyogi that specifically works with teens and has a female psychiatrist who actually listens, i've heard good things from other foreign students. just brace for the questionnaires thing the other person mentioned, they love those here, it's like the main diagnostic tool. for adhd you'll need to find a specialist who does the full interview, not just the form, and be ready to wait months for an appointment.

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if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping

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kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.

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tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.

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