Abstract
Natural disasters generate a variety of life events that may lead diverse mental disorders other than those trauma-related. Among such the alcohol related problem is quite important, as it may be influenced by both psychological burdens related to disasters but also people's coping and appraisal. People may seek for alcohol as a measure to reduce distress, which is not a rare after traumatic situation, but will be unintentionally subject to its pharmacological effects. Our previous study after Niigata-Chuuetsu Earthquake aimed at the prevalence of mental disorders and QOL in rural areas where the proportion of elderly adults was high. We conducted face-to-face interviews onducted with 496 community-dwelling persons aged 65 years or older in that area. During the 3-year period after the earthquake, 1.6% of men and 5.5% of women had received a diagnosis of major depression and 3.9% of men were regarded to have alcohol dependence while none of women had it. There were no cases of posttraumatic stress disorder. Suicidality was the highest mental health problems, the prevalence bigger among women than men. It would be of crucial interest whether the social outcome of alcohol dependence would differ between pre and post disasters. Language: en
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