The nature of psychiatric problems among disaster victims

One-quarter of the residents (about 52,000) in the disaster area around the volcanic eruption area of Mt Unzen-Fugen have been forced to evacuate over a 3 year period. We conducted a psychological controlled study using the GHQ-30 for evacuees. As a result, the percentage of people with a high score over 8 points was 67% of evacuees, markedly higher than 10% of the control group. Some mental support activities, such as counseling by community nurses and crisis intervention/medication by psychiatrists and others, have been promoted. Subjects who received a psychiatric intervention had good outcome as a whole. The nature of psychiatric problems among disaster evacuees and the necessity of long-term support are discussed in this paper.