The State and Cause of Psychological Changes Seven Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the psychological state and the cause of any changes in the psychological state of survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) seven years after the event. The GEJE was a catastrophic disaster that struck a wide area eastern Japan. As a result, victims needed to live in shelters or temporary housings for a prolonged period. Consequently, many elderly who had been affected lost hope or had difficulty reconstructing their lives, with many eventually choosing to commit suicide or to die alone. These effects reveal a complicated process of psychological recovery and chronic distress. This study, therefore, provides a longitudinal examination of the psychological state of GEJE victims over the course of 7 years, both individually and collectively. We sampled 10 victims of the GEJE, asking them to draw a line describing the transition of their psychological state and then to describe specific episodes in which they were aware of changing in their psychological state. We subsequently found four patterns of psychological transition among victims in this study. Moreover, we found that victims’ psychological state was prone to change when triggered by circumstance in living, health status, and their relationship with their community.