IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p10424-d649506.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Practical Report of Disaster-Related Mental Health Interventions Following the Great East Japan Earthquake during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Potential for Suicide Prevention

Author

Listed:
  • Masatsugu Orui

    (Sendai City Mental Health Welfare Center, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
    Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan)

  • Suzuka Saeki

    (Sendai City Mental Health Welfare Center, Sendai 980-0845, Japan)

  • Shuichiro Harada

    (Sendai City Mental Health Welfare Center, Sendai 980-0845, Japan)

  • Mizuho Hayashi

    (Sendai City Mental Health Welfare Center, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
    On behalf of the Disaster Mental Health Team of the Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center.)

Abstract

Background : This practical report aims to publicize the ongoing disaster-related mental health interventions following the Great East Japan Earthquake during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods : Disaster-related mental health interventions consisted of: (1) screening high-risk evacuees with high psychological distress (Kessler 6 score ≥ 13) or binge drinking; and (2) visiting selected high-risk individuals and providing them counseling through outreach in evacuee housing. These activity records were compiled from existing material in the Sendai City Office; therefore, no new interviews or questionnaire surveys were conducted. Results : During the COVID-19 pandemic, we introduced telephone counseling and shortened the time of support as a result of the restrictions. Counselors addressed issues of “loneliness” or “isolation” among evacuees, who had little connection with society due to the pandemic. Moreover, the procedure for obtaining COVID-19 special financial aid was explained to evacuees in financial difficulty. During this period, the suicide rates in the affected area did not increase significantly as compared to the national average. Conclusions : Our report may be instructive in terms of preventing suicide during the pandemic using high-risk approaches and counselors trained in disaster-related mental health interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Masatsugu Orui & Suzuka Saeki & Shuichiro Harada & Mizuho Hayashi, 2021. "Practical Report of Disaster-Related Mental Health Interventions Following the Great East Japan Earthquake during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Potential for Suicide Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-14, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10424-:d:649506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10424/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10424/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Takanao Tanaka & Shohei Okamoto, 2021. "Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(2), pages 229-238, February.
    2. Masatsugu Orui & Maiko Fukasawa & Naoko Horikoshi & Yuriko Suzuki & Norito Kawakami, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of a Gatekeeper Training Program Regarding Anxiety about Radiation Health Effects Following a Nuclear Power Plant Accident: A Single-Arm Intervention Pilot Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Masatsugu Orui & Chihiro Nakayama & Yujiro Kuroda & Nobuaki Moriyama & Hajime Iwasa & Teruko Horiuchi & Takeo Nakayama & Minoru Sugita & Seiji Yasumura, 2020. "The Association between Utilization of Media Information and Current Health Anxiety Among the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Evacuees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-12, June.
    4. Yujiro Kuroda & Masatsugu Orui & Arinobu Hori, 2021. "Trends in Suicide Mortality in 10 Years around the Great East Japan Earthquake: Analysis of Evacuation and Non-Evacuation Areas in Fukushima Prefecture," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-10, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ayako Ide-Okochi & Tomonori Samiso & Yumie Kanamori & Mu He & Mika Sakaguchi & Kazumi Fujimura, 2022. "Depression, Insomnia, and Probable Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Survivors of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake and Related Factors during the Recovery Period Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Masatsugu Orui, 2022. "Suicide and Suicide Prevention Activities Following the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Masatsugu Orui, 2022. "Suicide and Suicide Prevention Activities Following the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Masatsugu Orui & Chihiro Nakayama & Nobuaki Moriyama & Masaharu Tsubokura & Kiyotaka Watanabe & Takeo Nakayama & Minoru Sugita & Seiji Yasumura, 2020. "Current Psychological Distress, Post-traumatic Stress, and Radiation Health Anxiety Remain High for Those Who Have Rebuilt Permanent Homes Following the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Masatsugu Orui & Chihiro Nakayama & Nobuaki Moriyama & Masaharu Tsubokura & Kiyotaka Watanabe & Takeo Nakayama & Minoru Sugita & Seiji Yasumura, 2021. "Those Who Have Continuing Radiation Anxiety Show High Psychological Distress in Cases of High Post-Traumatic Stress: The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Svaleryd, Helena & Vlachos, Jonas, 2022. "COVID-19 and School Closures," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1008, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Sugiyama, Yuri, 2022. "Can Soft Law Improve the Welfare of Sexual Minorities? The Case of Same-sex Partnership Policy in Japan," CEI Working Paper Series 2022-06, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    6. Ruri Okubo & Ryusuke Matsumoto & Eishi Motomura & Motohiro Okada, 2024. "Uncertainties of Economic Policy and Government Management Stability Played Important Roles in Increasing Suicides in Japan from 2009 to 2023," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(10), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Lennart Reifels & Michel L. A. Dückers, 2023. "Disaster Mental Health Risk Reduction: Appraising Disaster Mental Health Research as If Risk Mattered," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-14, May.
    8. Emily Ying Yang Chan & Holly Ching Yu Lam, 2021. "Research in Health-Emergency and Disaster Risk Management and Its Potential Implications in the Post COVID-19 World," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-3, March.
    9. Kristina Gligorić & Arnaud Chiolero & Emre Kıcıman & Ryen W. White & Robert West, 2022. "Population-scale dietary interests during the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    10. Dorn, Florian & Lange, Berit & Braml, Martin & Gstrein, David & Nyirenda, John L.Z. & Vanella, Patrizio & Winter, Joachim & Fuest, Clemens & Krause, Gérard, 2023. "The challenge of estimating the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 interventions – Toward an integrated economic and epidemiological approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    11. Erika Cantor & Rodrigo Salas & Romina Torres, 2022. "Femicide and Attempted Femicide before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
    12. Isaac Ampofo Atta Senior & Isaac Ampofo Atta Junior & Enock Tweneboah Darkwa, 2021. "Effects Of Coronavirus On Our Social Life And Information Sharing," Social Values & Society (SVS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 44-50, May.
    13. Haruhiko Midorikawa & Hirokazu Tachikawa & Miyuki Aiba & Yuki Shiratori & Daichi Sugawara & Naoaki Kawakami & Ryo Okubo & Takahiro Tabuchi, 2022. "Proposed Cut-Off Score for the Japanese Version of the Fear of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Scale (FCV-19S): Evidence from a Large-Scale National Survey in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    14. Jinho Kim & Sujeong Park & S. V. Subramanian & Taehoon Kim, 2023. "The Psychological Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Heterogeneous Effects in South Korea: Evidence from a Difference-in-Differences Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 455-476, February.
    15. Damian J. Rivers & Giancarla Unser-Schutz & Nathanael Rudolph, 2023. "Vaccine Hesitancy and Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Misinformation in Japanese Youth: The Contribution of Personality Traits and National Identity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-20, December.
    16. John F. Helliwell & Max B. Norton & Shun Wang & Lara B. Aknin & Haifang Huang, 2021. "Well-being Analysis Favours a Virus-Elimination Strategy for COVID-19," NBER Working Papers 29092, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Rebeca Gracia-Liso & Maria J. Portella & Joaquim Puntí-Vidal & Elena Pujals-Altés & Jordi Torralbas-Ortega & Marta Llorens & Montserrat Pamias & Marc Fradera-Jiménez & Itziar Montalvo-Aguirrezabala & , 2023. "COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed the Psychiatric Profile of Adolescents Attempting Suicide: A Cross-Sectional Comparison," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.
    18. Michihito Ando & Masato Furuichi, 2022. "The association of COVID-19 employment shocks with suicide and safety net use: An early-stage investigation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-26, March.
    19. Yichen Shen & Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2021. "COVID‐19's Lockdown and Crime Victimization: The State of Emergency under the Abe Administration," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 16(2), pages 327-348, July.
    20. Tomoyuki Kobayashi & Masaharu Maeda & Yui Takebayashi & Hideki Sato, 2021. "Traditional Gender Differences Create Gaps in the Effect of COVID-19 on Psychological Distress of Japanese Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-19, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10424-:d:649506. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.