New research suggests that people who were in
the vicinity of the Nagasaki atomic bomb explosion – but not
exposed to the radiation itself – are experiencing poor mental
health more than half a century on.
The study,
published in the November issue of the British Journal of
Psychiatry, is believed to be the first to focus on the mental
health effects of psychological exposure to nuclear disaster
without exposure to radiation.
Researchers from the National Centre of
Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo interviewed 347 people who had
lived in Nagasaki since the atomic bomb explosion in 1945. Although
they had all been in the vicinity of the explosion, they lived in
areas that were officially recognised as being uncontaminated –
where the radiation posed no significant risk to health. The
participants were all asked to complete a General Health
Questionnaire, which is used to identify if someone is at risk of
mental disorder.
The researchers interviewed a further 277
people who had moved into the area from outside Nagasaki 5-15 years
after the bombing. These people acted as the control group.
The researchers found that 75% of those who
had been in the vicinity of the bomb were at high risk of mental
disorder, based on their responses to the General Health
Questionnaire, compared to 40% of the control group.
Three-quarters of the people who had been in
the vicinity of the bomb still mistakenly believe that the flash of
the explosion was synonymous with radiation, and therefore thought
they had been exposed to harmful levels of radiation. This
incorrect knowledge was mildly associated with poorer mental
health.
Lead researcher Dr Yoshiharu Kim said: “Our
study shows that being in the vicinity of the Nagasaki atomic bomb
continues to be associated with poorer mental health more than half
a century after the event. Fear about the potential radiological
hazard and a lack of knowledge about radiological risk are
responsible for this association.
“It is not unreasonable to assume that many
people living in the vicinity of the Nagasaki explosion did not
have access to official sources of information because they were
not officially registered as being exposed to the radiation. But
our study shows that public health promotion beyond the
contamination boundary is important, otherwise people’s anxiety may
persist over decades.”
Dr Kim continued: “Our study also provides
some insight into the nature of the distress related to the nuclear
power plant accident that occurred on 11 March 2011 in Fukushima,
Japan. Beyond the officially-recognised contaminated areas,
low-level radioactive substances were released over a wide area.
Although experts agree that the effects of this low-level radiation
pose only negligible risks to health, considerable distress and
anxiety has occurred among residents in the affected areas. We hope
our findings from this study will be useful for helping to devise
effective measures to counteract the distress of people like those
in Fukushima.”
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Kim Y, Tsutsumi A, Izutsu T, Kawamura N, Miyazaki T and Kikkawa T. Persistent distress after psychological exposure to the Nagasaki atomic bomb explosion. British Journal of Psychiatry 2011; 199: 411-416