If you don’t know someone with a mental health problem, you’re simply not paying attention. All of us have friends and family members and colleagues who have been depressed, struggled with grief or an eating disorder or a learning problem, or have died by suicide.

If you need to talk, we’re here to listen. 
03 5774 0992

Globally, one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point, yet only 25 percent of those who experience a mental illness reach out for support. For most, the fear that others will judge them negatively overcomes the desire to seek treatment.

Mental illness is treatable, and recovery is possible when education, family, peer and community supports are available and used, but stigma and discrimination against those living with mental illness is widespread and reaches into schools and universities, workplaces, housing, health care and media. It causes shame, prejudice and hopelessness, leaves many trying to manage the problem on their own, either suffering in silence, or masking the pain with drugs or alcohol. 

TELL was founded in 1973 to provide crisis and suicide prevention support for the international community in Japan, and in 1991 added face-to-face counseling and outreach services that bridge gaps in the Japanese language-focused health care system. 



TELL’s founders saw that residents who did not speak fluent Japanese (non-Japanese speakers comprise a small and mostly unenfranchised minority of the overall population) had few places to turn for support with mental health issues including depression, stress, cultural adjustment, relationship issues, and exceptional parenting resources for children with diverse needs. 

In 2015, 23,971 people died by suicide in Japan, and last year, our Lifeline answered nearly 6,800 calls for help.

Our prices start at free, for the Lifeline, and many of our outreach programs that reach schools and other organizations are either free or very inexpensive, thanks to companies and individuals that provide support for these programs because they feel they are important for the community. Also, we provide distance counseling that serves the many Japan residents who don’t live near our clinics in Tokyo and Yokohama, and we offer subsidized clinical counseling for those who cannot afford to pay the full fees.

If you need to talk, we’re here to listen. 

Roberto De Vido is executive director of TELL, responsible for leading the organization’s fundraising efforts and overseeing its Lifeline and counseling services.