Mental health and disaster related attitudes among Japanese after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster

Yuval Palgi, Menachem Ben-Ezra, Or Aviel, Yonit Dubiner, Evelyn Baruch, Yechiel Soffer, Amit Shrira

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

Abstract

On March 11, 2011 Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 Mw earthquake. The results were severe with more than 15,000 people being killed by the earthquake and the following tsunami (Normile, 2011). The aftermath of the disaster was a level 7 nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, matching only the Chernobyl disaster (Weissmann, 2011). The literature of behavioural reactions after nuclear disasters is scarce (Anspaugh et al., 1988; Havenaar et al., 1997; Baum et al., 1983), mainly addressing anxiety. Moreover, in the case of Japan, the nuclear disaster has awakened the memories of the WWII atomic bombs and as such, might have raised historically-based panic among the Japanese (McCartney, 2011).
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)688-690
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Psychiatric Research
Volume46
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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