Disaster Psychiatry: Lessons Learned from the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake

Abstract

Background: In the early morning of January 17, 1995, the Kobe city (1.5 million inhabitants) and surrounding urban areas were devastated by the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. This Earthquate killed more than 5,500 people immediately and made more than 350,000 people homeless. But the Japanese have learned many lessons through experiencing this tragic event. Methods: I personally experienced the Earthquake on spot at that time. I have also been witnessing the recovery process in the Kobe area over 15 years. As a psychiatrist, I have also been observing the changes of psychiatric problems of the Earthquate victims over the time. Results: Inhabitants in the Kobe area started to experience various physical and psychological problems after the disaster. These problems have been changing over the time. The first victims' symptoms were panic attacks, which were gradually replaced with depressive symptoms, alcohol abuse and alcohol-related problems as well as so-called ”solitary death.” But posttraumatic stress disorder was not common among those victims. In one year, those psychopathologic problems had quickly become social problems in Japan. The recovery process was accompanied with the efforts of the Kobe people to transfer their experiences to the victims of similar disasters in Asia and in the world. Conclusion: The Hanshin Awaji Earthquake was tragic. But, the lessons learned in Kobe is being shared by psychiatrists and mental health experts in Asia and in other developing countries. This transfer of experiences has constituted a continuous process in Japanese recovery from the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. One could say, ”sharing is the main source of our recovery from the disaster.”