{"id":40777,"date":"2014-03-17T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=40777"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:10:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:10:57","slug":"3-years-after-fukushima-how-survivors-mental-health-continues-deteriorating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/03\/3-years-after-fukushima-how-survivors-mental-health-continues-deteriorating\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Years after Fukushima: How Survivors\u2019 Mental Health Continues Deteriorating"},"content":{"rendered":"

So much of the impact of a disaster like the\u00a0earthquake and tsunami three years ago in Fukushima, Japan<\/a> is tangible\u2014radioactive leaks<\/a>,\u00a0food scares<\/a>, \u00a0petitions<\/a> \u00a0and lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0have all taken place since March 11, 2011.<\/p>\n

The emotional distress faced by many\u00a0in the areas near the\u00a0six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is far less palpable, though. Predictions on the nuclear future of Japan and other large nations like the U.S.<\/a> are much easier to find than accounts of impacted and displaced residents whose mental health continues to suffer from the events of that day.<\/p>\n

Though thousands died from the impacts of the earthquake and tsunami, no deaths directly related to radiation have been reported, according to the BBC<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i>But that doesn\u2019t ease concerns for people like\u00a0Myuki Arakawa, a mother of two who routinely takes her sons to the hospital for thyroid cancer.\u00a0Since 2011, surveys have revealed 33 cases of thyroid cancer in children and another 42 suspected cases.<\/p>\n

Though Fukushima University Medical School Professor Shinichi Suzuki, who leads the team of researchers surveying children in the area, tires of people likening Fukushima to\u00a0the 1986 disaster at the\u00a0Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant\u00a0in Ukraine, there\u2019s no denying one of Arakawa\u2019s chief concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the Chernobyl disaster children were diagnosed many years later,\u201d she told the BBC<\/i>. \u201cMy boys may be fine now, but if there is any risk I need to find out as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not comfortable relying on the government for information. Just two weeks ago, Japanese officials announced\u00a0plans to restart\u00a0reactors that were closed<\/a> after the incident, calling nuclear energy a \u201cvital source\u201d of power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government gives us very little information,\u201d Arakawa\u00a0said. \u201cI need to be completely sure my boys are fine. I want this hospital to follow up next year and the following year and the one after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to research revealed in a TIME<\/i><\/a> report,\u00a0post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are on the rise in nearby towns like Hirono, Fukushima, where few people died, but survivors lived with haunting memories.<\/p>\n

More than half of the 241 residents surveyed displayed \u201cclinically concerning\u201d symptoms of PTSD, said Brigham Young University\u00a0professor\u00a0Niwako Yamawaki, who authored a study of Hirono.\u00a0Also, two-thirds reported depression symptoms.<\/p>\n

All survey participants lived in temporary housing provided by the\u00a0government. Their average age was 58, as researchers found that younger residents relocated at a higher rate. Healthy diets, exercise and even often frowned-upon habits like drinking alcohol appeared to be the only positive buffers from the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the U.S., if people are drinking after a psychologically traumatic event, it is seen as a negative consequence, \u201dYamawaki said. \u201cBut what we found was that when people were drinking in Japan, they were interacting with community members\u2013usually over dinner or at meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some, that hasn\u2019t been enough these past few years.\u00a0Hideko Takeda, a 56-year-old near Namie, Fukushima, told the BBC that her father\u00a0succumbed to the stress of being displaced and died after two years of his health deteriorating. She also spoke about a man who hanged himself after the disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI blame the power company [TEPCO] for his death,\u201d she said of her father. \u201cThey took everything from him, his dreams, his hope. They took his land and scattered his family far from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing will ever bring those back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit EcoWatch\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>NUCLEAR<\/b><\/a>\u00a0page for more related news on this topic.<\/b><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAfter the Chernobyl disaster children were diagnosed many years later,\u201d she told the BBC. \u201cMy boys may be fine now, but if there is any risk I need to find out as soon as possible.\u201d She\u2019s not comfortable relying on the government for information. Just two weeks ago, Japanese officials announced plans to restart reactors that were closed after the incident, calling nuclear energy a \u201cvital source\u201d of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}