The earthquake disaster survivors need psychological assistance, with the same importance and necessity of material, humanitarian and medical aid, to alleviate suffering from depression problems that may extend from 5 to 40 years.
According to what was published by the site JAMA NetworkA scientific study examined the 5.5-year trajectories of PTSD and depressive symptoms as long-term psychological effects on survivors following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
Professor Shiho Kino, a professor in the Department of Social Epidemiology at Kyoto University in Japan, led the study that monitored the persistence of symptoms of mental illness among individuals affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 5.5 years after the disaster.
The study looked at the cases of 2,781 elderly people living in Japanese society, and nearly half of them had recovered after experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression 5.5 years after the disaster. The results of the study indicated that the general prevalence of depression remained stable between the pre-disaster and post-disaster data, which means that despite the persistence of symptoms of mental illness for more than 5 years among half of the disaster survivors, the prevalence of depression at the community level did not change, which indicates It indicates that society itself was resilient.
In China, the results of a study on the relationship between the Great Tangshan Earthquake, which is one of the worst natural disasters in China, and depression after 37 years revealed that the experience of the earthquake was associated with depression among bereaved survivors, women and individuals over the age of 18 at the time of the occurrence. earthquake.
Depression levels were measured using the Center for Epidemiological and Depression Studies scale. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between earthquake experience and depression after adjusting for sex, age at the time of the earthquake, smoking status, education, income, residence in Tangshan one to two years after the earthquake, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.
The results revealed that among 5024 participants, 641 people experienced Tangshan earthquake, and 98 suffered bereavement due to the earthquake. 37 years after the earthquake and its aftermath, survivors who had lost relatives during the earthquake were nearly three times more likely to suffer from depression compared to those who had not been exposed to the earthquake, while those who had not lost relatives in the disaster were 1.69 times more likely to suffer from depression. .
Stratified analyzes showed that earthquake was significantly associated with depression in women with or without relatives and neighbors. The psychological effects of PTSD included males who were over the age of 18 at the time of the earthquake.
