Psychiatrist who faced 5,000 cancer patients candidly discusses his own 'emotional wounds' in 'Please Don't Pretend Your Emotional Wounds Don't Exist,' releasing Tuesday, April 28, 2026
KADOKAWA Corporation released 'Please Don't Pretend Your Emotional Wounds Don't Exist: What I Learned by Facing Pain as a Psychiatrist Who Couldn't Be Strong' by Ken Shimizu on April 28, 2026. This book offers insights for living a rich life, drawn from the author's over 20 years of experience with more than 5,000 cancer patients and their families, as well as his own personal struggles.
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- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 21:00
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KADOKAWA Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President, and CEO: Tsuyoshi Natsuno) released "Please Don't Pretend Your Emotional Wounds Don't Exist: What I Learned by Facing Pain as a Psychiatrist Who Couldn't Be Strong" (authored by Ken Shimizu) on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
This book is an invaluable guide penned by a psychiatrist who, over more than 20 years, has confronted the anguish of over 5,000 cancer patients and their families. It offers profound insights for living a rich and fulfilling life.
The author, through his experiences in cancer medicine, posits that there are "two major challenges" one must confront to live a truthful life. The first is "to love oneself and those around you, and to find a way to live contentedly within society." The second is "how to position the fate of 'death,' which everyone inevitably faces through aging and illness, within one's own life."
A key distinguishing feature of this book is the psychiatrist author's candid self-disclosure of his own long-standing "difficulties in living," "childhood emotional wounds," conflicts with his parents, and crises and intractable illnesses faced in middle age. Blending his personal experiences with real stories of patients who found meaning in the face of harsh destinies, alongside insights from psychology and psychiatry, the book presents a roadmap for healing wounded hearts and living authentically.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Life has two challenges
Chapter 1: Healing Past Wounds — Re-encountering a Secure Base for the Heart
There are "Adult You" and "Child You" within the heart
Where is the heart's secure base?
How to deal with persistent loneliness
Why choose not to receive treatment?
People facing great loss
How to grow up beyond loneliness
Chapter 2: Want and Must — Freeing Yourself from "I have to do ○○"
Don't kill the "want" within you
Reclaiming your life from your parents' agenda
How to rewrite the life script that binds you
Chapter 3: How to Face Life's Deadline
When "death" enters future plans
Coping with midlife crisis
Until you reach "life's golden age"
Searching for the "cosmos of the heart" while contemplating aging, illness, and death
Conclusion: What it means to live authentically
Bibliographic Information
Title: Please Don't Pretend Your Emotional Wounds Don't Exist: What I Learned by Facing Pain as a Psychiatrist Who Couldn't Be Strong
Author: Ken Shimizu
Price: 1,980 yen (1,800 yen + tax)
Release Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Format: Shiroku Henskei-ban (approx. 128 x 188 mm)
Page Count: 280 pages
ISBN: 978-4-04-116266-8
Publisher: KADOKAWA Corporation
KADOKAWA Official Book Details Page >>
Author Profile
Ken Shimizu
Born in 1971. Psychiatrist and Doctor of Medicine. Head of Psycho-Oncology Department at the Cancer Institute Hospital of JFCR. After graduating from Kanazawa University and completing internal medicine and general psychiatry residencies, he became a resident in the Psycho-Oncology Department at the National Cancer Center (now National Cancer Research Center) East Hospital in 2003. Since then, he has consistently worked as a psychiatrist specializing in cancer, engaging in dialogues with over 5,000 patients and their families. He assumed his current position in 2020. He is a certified specialist and instructor of the Japanese Society of General Hospital Psychiatry and a certified specialist and instructor of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. His many books include "What if you weren't here a year from now?" (Bunkyosha), "Don't meet others' expectations" (SB Shinsho), and "Living with anxiety as an ally" (NHK Publishing).
This book is an invaluable guide penned by a psychiatrist who, over more than 20 years, has confronted the anguish of over 5,000 cancer patients and their families. It offers profound insights for living a rich and fulfilling life.
The author, through his experiences in cancer medicine, posits that there are "two major challenges" one must confront to live a truthful life. The first is "to love oneself and those around you, and to find a way to live contentedly within society." The second is "how to position the fate of 'death,' which everyone inevitably faces through aging and illness, within one's own life."
A key distinguishing feature of this book is the psychiatrist author's candid self-disclosure of his own long-standing "difficulties in living," "childhood emotional wounds," conflicts with his parents, and crises and intractable illnesses faced in middle age. Blending his personal experiences with real stories of patients who found meaning in the face of harsh destinies, alongside insights from psychology and psychiatry, the book presents a roadmap for healing wounded hearts and living authentically.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Life has two challenges
Chapter 1: Healing Past Wounds — Re-encountering a Secure Base for the Heart
There are "Adult You" and "Child You" within the heart
Where is the heart's secure base?
How to deal with persistent loneliness
Why choose not to receive treatment?
People facing great loss
How to grow up beyond loneliness
Chapter 2: Want and Must — Freeing Yourself from "I have to do ○○"
Don't kill the "want" within you
Reclaiming your life from your parents' agenda
How to rewrite the life script that binds you
Chapter 3: How to Face Life's Deadline
When "death" enters future plans
Coping with midlife crisis
Until you reach "life's golden age"
Searching for the "cosmos of the heart" while contemplating aging, illness, and death
Conclusion: What it means to live authentically
Bibliographic Information
Title: Please Don't Pretend Your Emotional Wounds Don't Exist: What I Learned by Facing Pain as a Psychiatrist Who Couldn't Be Strong
Author: Ken Shimizu
Price: 1,980 yen (1,800 yen + tax)
Release Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Format: Shiroku Henskei-ban (approx. 128 x 188 mm)
Page Count: 280 pages
ISBN: 978-4-04-116266-8
Publisher: KADOKAWA Corporation
KADOKAWA Official Book Details Page >>
Author Profile
Ken Shimizu
Born in 1971. Psychiatrist and Doctor of Medicine. Head of Psycho-Oncology Department at the Cancer Institute Hospital of JFCR. After graduating from Kanazawa University and completing internal medicine and general psychiatry residencies, he became a resident in the Psycho-Oncology Department at the National Cancer Center (now National Cancer Research Center) East Hospital in 2003. Since then, he has consistently worked as a psychiatrist specializing in cancer, engaging in dialogues with over 5,000 patients and their families. He assumed his current position in 2020. He is a certified specialist and instructor of the Japanese Society of General Hospital Psychiatry and a certified specialist and instructor of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. His many books include "What if you weren't here a year from now?" (Bunkyosha), "Don't meet others' expectations" (SB Shinsho), and "Living with anxiety as an ally" (NHK Publishing).