title: The Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident: a triple disaster affecting the mental health of the country.
abstract: The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 caused 2 other serious disasters: a tsunami and a nuclear power plant accident. A chronic shortage of mental health resources had been previously reported in the Tohoku region, and the triple disaster worsened the situation. Eventually a public health approach was implemented by providing a common room in temporary housing developments to build a sense of community and to approach evacuees so that they could be triaged and referred to mental health teams. Japan now advocates using psychological first aid to educate first responders. This article extracts key lessons from relevant literature.
authors: Faculty of Letters, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. yamajun37@gmail.com
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Yamashita
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Shigemura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D004637:Emergency Services, Psychiatric / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000600:supply & distribution; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000191:economics; D015980:Public Health Practice; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D063508:Social Discrimination / Q000523:psychology; D057545:Social Stigma; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000639:trends; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D057192:Tsunamis
keywords: Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident; Psychological First Aid; The Great East Japan Earthquake; Tohoku region; Tsunami