Working in Japan has caused me to develop social anxiety.
I’m 20 years old, and I used to be a very cheerful person who loved talking to people. But since I started working in Japan, I’ve developed what feels like social anxiety.
I came to Japan to study, and I work part-time to cover my living expenses. My boss is really kind and supportive, but unfortunately, some of the customers are not. Lately, their behavior seems to have gotten worse.
Sometimes, when I’m speaking Japanese, people pretend they don’t understand anything I’m saying. I’m not fluent, but my Japanese is above an intermediate level, and I know I’m communicating clearly most of the time.
There have been times when customers ignored me completely and walked over to another Japanese staff member to ask them to take over the checkout. Some customers have even thrown money at me or acted irritated for no apparent reason, which makes it even harder for me to communicate.
Whenever this happens, my boss comforts me, but there’s not much he can do because the customers are regulars, and in customer service, customers usually come first.
Now, every time it’s almost time to go to work, I feel a heavy sense of dread. My heart races whenever I have to interact with Japanese customers, and I even start stuttering sometimes. Before coming to Japan, I wasn’t like this at all.
On top of that, seeing so many posts online saying things like “foreigners are ruining Japan” or “go back to your country” has been making me feel even more depressed.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? If so, how do you cope with it?