The month of May is specifically associated with 五月病 (gogatsu-byō), which translates as “May sickness” or the “May blues,” and recent media reports suggest, even in April, an increase in メンタル不調 (mental fuchō, mental health problems) among young employees.

This dip in psychological well-being is often attributed to an accumulated 疲労 (hirō, fatigue) from the new work and school terms that begin in April and rises sharply after ゴールデンウィーク (gōruden wīku, Golden Week), the week that includes four national holidays and this year lasts from April 29 to May 6. Getting a week’s break after working hard for a month can sometimes cause people to struggle to get back to the grind.

メンタル不調 often starts with subtle symptoms. Let’s look at a short conversation between two close colleagues to see how they talk about their メンタル不調:

信也: 最近、疲れ気味なんだよね。

アナ: わかる。私もお昼休みの後に眠くなりがちで困ってる。

信也: お互い睡眠不足気味なのかな。それか五月病？

アナ: あり得るよね。夜更かししがちだから気をつけなきゃ。

Shinya: Saikin, tsukare-gimi nanda yo ne.

Ana: Wakaru. Watashi mo o-hiruyasumi no ato ni nemukunari-gachi de komatteru.

Shinya: O-tagai suimin-busoku-gimi nano kana. Soreka gogatsu-byō?

Ana: Arieru yone. Yofukashi shi-gachi dakara ki o tsukenakya.

Shinya: Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit tired.

Anna: I get it. I tend to get drowsy after lunchtime, and it’s a bit of a problem.

Shinya: Looks like we’re both a little sleep-deprived. Or maybe it’s the May blues?

Anna: It could be. I tend to stay up late, so I gotta watch that.

In this exchange, Shinya and Anna use two similar grammatical components, ～気味 (~gimi) and ～がち (~gachi). While 気味 (kimi) can function as a noun indicating mood and atmosphere, such as 気味が悪い (kimi ga warui, it’s spooky), when used as a suffix after a noun or a verb stem, it conveys a slight, particular condition and tendency. In English, this translates as “a little bit of~,” “~looking” or “feels like~.”

Recently, Shinya has been 疲れ気味 (tsukare-gimi, feeling a little tired), which might be the result of 寝不足気味 (nebusoku-gimi, a little lack of sleep). Other words that commonly get paired with the ～気味 suffix include 太り気味 (futori-gimi, getting a bit heavier) and 緊張気味 (kinchō-gimi, getting a little nervous).

Feeling a little light-headed? Temperature going up? You’re likely 風邪気味 (kaze-gimi), or feeling like you’re coming down with a cold. If that’s the case, you may say to your loved ones, 風邪気味だから今日は一日寝ててもいい？ (Kaze-gimi dakara kyō wa ichi-nichi netete mo ii?, I’m feeling a bit under the weather, can you let me stay in bed all day?)

While ～気味 indicates the degree of a specific state, if something happens regularly or you do something habitually, ～がち is the more natural suffix to opt for. Anna uses it when she says, 眠くなりがち (nemukunari-gachi, tend to get drowsy) and 夜更かししがち (yofukashi shi-gachi, have a habit of staying up late). The structure can be added after a noun or verb stem, just like ～気味.

You can say 病気がち (byōki-gachi, prone to being sick), but 風邪がち (kaze-gachi) sounds odd because catching a 風邪 (kaze, cold) is usually a one-off event.

That said, if a person is prone to catching colds, that can be articulated as 風邪をひきがち (kaze o hiki-gachi), as in, 季節の変わり目は風邪をひきがちだ (kisetsu no kawarime wa kaze o hiki-gachi da, It’s easy to catch a cold when the seasons change).

If you tend to feel unwell quite frequently, you may need to inform your colleagues, 体調を崩しがちなのでちょっと病院に行ってきます (Taichō o kuzushi-gachi nanode chotto byōin ni itte-kimasu, I tend to get sick so I’m going to pop out to the hospital).

This brings us to the rather delicate topic of sharing bad news with other people. In a recent conversation, a friend shared with me, 何だか病気がちだと思ったら実はがんだった (Nandaka byōki gachi da to omottara jitsu wa gan datta, [I] thought I was just prone to getting sick, but it turned out to be cancer).

日本人のおよそ2人に1人ががんになると言われています (Nihonjin no oyoso futari ni hitori ga gan ni naru to iwarete-imasu, It is said that about 1 in 2 Japanese people develop cancer). The kanji 癌 (gan), which is used for “cancer,” specifically suggests cancerous epithelial tissues. For that reason, the word is often written in hiragana to cover other types of malignant tumors as well.

When my father was diagnosed with がん, he broke the news to me quite casually, saying, ステージ4のがんって診断されちゃったんだよ (Sutēji-yon no gan-tte shindan sarechatta-n da yo, I [unfortunately] was diagnosed with stage four cancer). In most other cases, it is better to soften such information when sharing it with others.

When bringing up such heavy topics, prepare the listener in advance by first saying, ちょっと悪いニュースなんだけど (chotto warui nyūsu nandakedo, [I] have some bad news) or 話さなきゃいけないことがあるんだけど (Hanasanakya ikenai koto ga aru-n da kedo, [I] have something I must say).

In the case of がん, you may need to include some specified vocabulary like 入院 (nyūin, hospitalization), 手術 (shujutsu, surgery) or 抗がん剤(kōganzai, anticancer drugs) in your explanation: 実はしばらく入院することになった (Jitsu wa shibaraku nyūin suru koto ni natta, Actually, I need to be hospitalised for a while) or 来月から抗がん剤の治療を受けるから、副作用が出るかもしれない (Raigetsu kara kōganzai no chiryō o ukeru kara, fukusayō ga deru kamo shirenai, I’ll be undergoing chemotherapy from next month, so I might have some side effects).

It’s worth noting that while 化学療法 (kagaku ryōhō) directly translates as “chemotherapy,” most Japanese people will use 抗がん剤 in conversation.

If you’re on the receiving end of such information, respond with some words of support, starting with a simple 大変だよね (Taihen da yo ne, It’s terrible, isn’t it? [I’m sorry to hear that]) and then a longer, できることがあったら何でも言ってね (Dekiru koto ga attara nandemo itte ne, Tell me if there’s anything I can do for you) or 一緒に乗り越えよう (Issho ni norikoeyō, Let’s get through this together).

For those fighting illness, it’s only natural to be 落ち込みがち (ochikomi-gachi, feeling a little down). You don’t have to feel alone, though. In Japan, there are public counseling services such as こころの健康相談統一ダイヤル (Kokoro no kenkō sōdan tōitsu daiyaru, Mental Health Consultation Unified Dial) and がん相談支援センター (Gan sōdan shien sentā, The Consultation, Counseling and Support Service Center), as well as TELL Japan, which operates an English-language lifeline. みんなで力を合わせて病気に打ち勝とう (Minna de chikara o awasete byōki ni uchikatō, Let’s all work together and overcome any illnesses).