Substance addiction, such as that of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine, is a conventional addiction, but process addiction, which depends on specific behaviors and processes, is a recent distinctive type. Process addiction depends on the process of behaviors such as gambling, smartphones, internet, and online gaming. In June 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) revised the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD - 11); the addiction to online games was newly recognized as a formal disease as “Gambling disorder.” In Japan, “Act on Promotion of Development of Specified Complex Tourist Facilities Areas” was established in December 2016, casinos were approved, and social interest in gambling addiction has been on a rise. Matsushita’s paper discussed the current state of gambling addiction, the diagnosis and treatment, and its relationship with stress. Internet addiction is a condition that causes difficulties in everyday life due to overuse of the Internet, such as through online gaming and SNS by smartphones or personal computers. In the study by Hashimoto, based on the large-scale survey results, the current status and problems of Internet addiction were discussed. Two distinctive types of Internet dependence, factors related to Internet addiction, and gender differences were indicated. Currently, it is common to see people wearing masks in the normal living area. However, there are cases wherein the mask is not simply worn as a precaution for preventing diseases and infections. Watanabe’s paper discussed this wearing of masks from the viewpoint of process addiction and discussed the relationship with social anxiety disorder, by examining mask-dependent cases and their recovery process. Process addiction is expected to increase in the future due to the development of new social mechanisms and further technologies. However, there are few institutions for diagnosing and treating these addictions, necessitating the development of a more systematic response according to the increasing needs.

Gambling in Japan is considered to be unique because of pachinko, a legal mechanical gambling device. In 2016, the estimated size of the pachinko market was 197 billion US dollars, far exceeding other types of legal gambling in Japan. The most recent epidemiological study in Japan revealed that prevalence of gambling disorder (GD) was 3.6% for lifetime and 0.8% in the previous 12 months. That study also revealed that only 10% of the participants with a lifetime GD and 17% with a present GD had ever asked for help with gambling, and hardly any of the participants had sought treatment. These results clearly showed a serious treatment gap for participants with GD, as has frequently been reported in other countries. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a standard treatment for GD and a six-session treatment program is conducted at the Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center.

Impulsivity is one of the major risk factors for the development of GD. Genetic and environmental factors and their interactions have also been shown to be involved in the development of GD. Stressful life-events are also risk factors for GD. A positive correlation between violence and gambling has only been observed in men and a previous study reported that women tended to gamble to cope with anxiety and negative feelings. Therefore, the relationship between stress and GD might differ by gender.

In 2015 we carried out a questionnaire survey of Internet addiction. A total of 10,596 students took part from junior high school. Analysis of the results revealed that 5.7% of students are at high risk of Internet addiction. We also found that the risk is higher for girls, lower grades and those who use social networking services (7.1%). Also we found that tendency for addiction is strongly related with the use to escape from a depressed mood and stress. There are several types of Internet addiction. These include Internet game addiction, SNS addiction, content addiction, in which users spend long time in contact with content such as videos and gambling-type addiction, in which users become absorbed in Internet auctions and social games. It seems likely that the Japanese cultural climate which places a strong emphasis on conformity puts people at greater risk of SNS addiction than elsewhere. In our 2017 nation-wide survey 20.1% of teenagers are at high risk of Internet addiction. The time Japanese youth spend online is continuing to increase as a result of age lowering for smartphones use. We should develop objective method for detecting addiction.

It is observed that mask addiction which is one of process addiction has been increasing recently. This paper begins with the concept of the addiction and the description of process addiction. Then, Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) which is the fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people is introduced. The patient of SAD tends to fall into mask addiction because he/she can hide their anxiety by covering their faces with masks. This paper presents the cases and recovery processes of mask addiction, and also refers to participation to community for recovery from addictions.

Objective: This study aimed to assess how the general public perceives and evaluates people with visible differences.

Methods: This study targeted 153 university and graduate students. These students were shown four photographs, and were asked to anonymously answer an originally-developed questionnaire which included items on perception and evaluation of people with visible differences. After excluding questionnaires with missing values, we analyzed data from a total of 127 participants.

Results and Discussion: High evaluation scores were obtained for five items, including “readily catching the eyes of others” and “being surprised when running into them.” This reflects difficulties experienced by people with visible differences. There were significant sex-differences in five items, including “being in a disadvantageous position when it comes to marriage” and “difficult to have a loving relationship with someone”; suggesting men evaluated people with visible differences more negatively than women. When assessing how participants perceived the reasons underlying the visible differences in free descriptions, the rate of correct answers differed by the specific reason. In particular, for port-wine stain, even in the perception group are had a low rate. These findings highlight the importance of educating the general public so that they would have accurate knowledge regarding visible differences.

The present study examined the effects of cognitive psychological education and social skills training on the improvement of feeling for friends in junior high school students. Participants were consisted the cognitive psychological education group (n = 24), the skill training group (n = 23) and no-treatment control group (n = 25). Self-report scales of feeling for friends and social skills were measured prior and post intervention. Both education and skill training program were composed two 50-minute sessions. The psychological education program provided a psychoeducation on cognitive restructuring and on anxiety and exposure effects. Results suggested that psychological education and skill training programs improve student’s feeling for friends to some extent. Significant improvement effect was found on “trust-stability” score of cognitive psychological education group.