Summer, when women wear skimpier clothes and expose more flesh, traditionally sparks a jump in cases of train groping, Japan’s national scourge that Shukan Post (8/17-24) says is all triggered by the brain.
While the average salaryman may see a woman’s bust and be impressed, he’ll generally turn away. Yet some men simply can’t resist the temptation and thrust their hands out to cop a feel.
Minoru Hashimoto, head of the Hashimoto Clinic, says the inability of such men to control themselves is a psychological problem.
“Patients who come to my clinic are ‘gropaholics’ whose addiction is the same as those hooked on alcohol or drugs. It’s a mental problem,” the doctor tells Shukan Post. “The moment they reach out and grope someone, they have lost control over their minds and are running on a kind of auto pilot that makes them act without consciousness.”
Hashimoto Clinic runs group therapy sessions for gropaholics, which the doctor says have proved to be an effective form of treatment.
“Over the past few years there has been a rapid increase in the number of habitual gropers, people who have been arrested for molesting four or five times. We gather these people in groups, get them to talk frankly about their experiences and have people objectively look at their behavior,” Hashimoto says.
Criminal psychology expert Akira Sakuta says people susceptible to molesting women share some common traits.
“Many men who are serious, straitlaced types with few opportunities to play around with women are prone to becoming molesters fairly easily,” he tells Shukan Post. “There are many elite men who suddenly grope, which probably arises from them being busy, having few opportunities to interact with women and being burdened by stress from work and home, prompting them to reach out impulsively and molest someone.”
Tohoku University Prof. Daisuke Yamamoto, the author of “Uwaki wo Shitai No (The Brain That Wants to Have Affairs),” says molesters are probably spurred to act because of their brains.
“When men are aroused by some sort of external influence, such as aroma, the dorsal lateral nucleus and preoptic area of the brain’s instinct-controlling hypothalamic region become aroused and make the body act. Normally, this is what stirs the groins of men who see a beautiful woman,” Yamamoto says. “Although the mechanisms behind what makes people molest are still unknown, it is known that if the prefrontal region of the brain near the forehead is damaged, it often becomes impossible to control sexual urges. There’s a high likelihood that habitual gropers may have something wrong with the way the prefrontal part of their brains are working.”
Food culture researcher Hisao Nagayama says that chewing gum and candy could be a way for chronic gropers to combat their molesting malady.
“Excess stress causes a decrease in glucose, the brain’s only source of energy, which in turn brings about a decreased ability to control impulses. Sucking on glucose-filled candy might be a good idea,” the food expert tells Shukan Post. “Chewing stimulates the cerebral cortex, which raises consciousness, and could perhaps stop the impulsive grab, so gum may be a good choice, too.” (By Ryann Connell)
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