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Retired husband syndrome


Retired husband syndrome (主人在宅ストレス症候群 Shujin Zaitaku Sutoresu Shoukougun?, literally One's Husband Being at Home Stress Syndrome) (RHS) is a psychosomatic, stress related illness which has been estimated to occur in 60% of Japan's older female population. It is a condition where a woman begins to exhibit signs of physical illness and depression as their husband reaches, or approaches, retirement.

The following are some of the common symptoms of RHS:

This syndrome was identified and coined by Nobuo Kurokawa and first appeared in a presentation of his to the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine in 1991. It is a condition where a woman begins to exhibit signs of physical illness and depression as her husband reaches, or approaches, retirement.

Kurokawa has theorized that RHS is a result of the fact that many of Japan's citizens who are reaching retirement age, 60, are members of the Baby Boomer generation of Japan. The members of this generation were expected to meet certain social requirements: that the man should be the breadwinner and work to support his family, and the woman was to be not only a homemaker but also to show a level of adoration for her salaryman husband as reward for his bringing in the money she used to look after their children and socialize with her friends.

As the husband's career as a salaryman can demand long hours away from home, both working and socializing with other salarymen and their bosses as is expected, a husband may leave home in the early hours of the morning and return home late at night. This could mean that a husband and wife may not interact extensively and when a husband retires both members of the couple can feel they are living together with someone who is a virtual stranger.


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