Photo/Illutration The damaged No. 4 reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in May 2012 in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Nearly 40 percent of people who evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture to areas outside the prefecture may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a survey showed.

Behind the high rate are long-term stress factors, including memories of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, drastic changes in living environments and problems resulting from the government’s post-disaster measures, according to the survey.

The survey was conducted by Waseda University and a citizens group called Shinsai Shien Network Saitama (Disaster relief assistance network Saitama) from January through April 2022.

“Although victims remain in touch with one another, some of them cannot go out on their own,” said Takuya Tsujiuchi, a medical professor at the university, who was involved in the research. “Such shut-ins alongside depressed individuals and elderly people need personal visits by supporters.”

For the survey, the Waseda Institute of Medical Anthropology on Disaster Reconstruction and the Saitama group sent questionnaires to 5,350 households mainly in the Kanto region around Tokyo who had fled from Fukushima Prefecture after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

A total of 516 responses were received.

The results indicated that 37.0 percent of the evacuees had PTSD.

Among the major causes were “anxieties about compensation and indemnification,” “unemployment” and “nuisances just by being an evacuee,” according to the survey.

These “nuisances” referred to slurs, slander, teasing and other unwanted action over their evacuee status and the compensation issue.

Among all respondents, 34.5 percent said they “still have no job.” As for reasons, 16.3 percent cited an “inability to resume my self-owned business yet,” and 14.0 percent said they “could not work due to illness.”

The survey underlined the worsening financial situation of evacuees, with 56.8 percent saying they were “worried about compensation and indemnification.”

Asked what was “lost” in their hometowns, 72.1 percent cited “home” and 66.7 percent said “bonds with friends and acquaintances.”

Another problem is the growing feeling of isolation, as 38.9 percent of respondents said they “rarely have contact” or “have no contact” with friends or acquaintances in the places where they currently live.

“More advocates must be put into service” to care for those affected by the disaster as part of reconstruction efforts, Tsujiuchi said.

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