Our Problem As Seen Through Great East Japan Earthquake

National Federation of Mental Health and Welfare Party in Japan

Introduction

The Great East Japan Earthquake taught us that preparation and sound information is extremely important. Following the unprecedented earthquake and tsunami, even those of us in Tokyo who were unable to get home were cut off from information, did not know what to do, and just wandered about. Lifelines in the disaster area were destroyed. For a while people could not even confirm the safety of family members, and they were dazed. At that time, newsletters that people wrote themselves were useful. What was necessary and useful following the Great East Japan Earthquake? It will be necessary to sufficiently verify this for future preparations.

Is everyone alright?

One day after the earthquake, it was decided to contact chairmen of each Kazokukai (a group consisted of family members of people with psychosocial disabilities to share worries and provide support each other) in the prefectures hit by the disaster. The Iwate Kazokukai chairman was in Morioka, which was not hit by the tsunami and sustained little damage from the earthquake. Therefore it was possible to confirm his safety, but it was completely impossible to obtain information from the coast. The house of the Fukushima Kazokukai chairman had only been damaged by the earthquake, but because of this and the radiation, many members of the Kazokukai had scattered to neighboring areas. There was no way to ascertain their safety. In Miyagi Prefecture, it was possible to contact the Secretariat but the safety of the Kazokukai chairman was unknown. We maintained contact with the Secretariat and later found out that the chairman had barely escaped with his life and was living on the second floor of his home.

It was decided that the National Federation of Mental Health and Welfare Party in Japan (the Federation) would collect donations. The Federation collected donations through its monthly magazine Minna Net and notifications to prefectural federation, and each Kazokukai in western Japan, which did not know the conditions in the disaster area, learned about them through feature articles in the monthly magazine and special notifications.

Within the Federation, it was decided that a disaster response headquarters, which the director would serve as the head of, would be established and that the headquarters would discuss issues such as collecting information and using donations.

Impact of the earthquake on persons with mental disabilities

The Great East Japan Earthquake caused damage to psychiatric hospitals. Since the hospitals could no longer be used, their patients had to be transferred to hospitals in distant Tokyo. For one family, their hospitalized daughter was suddenly forced to return home. It was reported that she spent several days at home, but her condition deteriorated, and she was then hospitalized at the hospital her family finally managed to find. For hospitalized patients during a disaster, an important issue is how we collaborate with related hospitals. A plan that takes into account disasters should be developed.

The disaster had a major impact on everyone, and as expected, the impact on persons with psychosocial disabilities was substantial. More than a few people were hospitalized after their condition deteriorated. It is important to make arrangements so that people who had to be transferred to another hospital and people who were hospitalized after their condition deteriorated can be released even one day quicker to a place that will bring them peace of mind. In fact, even now, psychiatric hospitals in the disaster area have more patients than they are supposed to have, and some patients have no place to be released as their homes are gone. It is important that people who do not need to be hospitalized are quickly released and support is provided by the local community. Creating a firm foundation in the local community related to this is also important.

As for medical facilities, there were situations when medicines could not be obtained because of damage from the disaster. On account of quick decisions by entities such as pharmaceutical companies, it was somehow possible to get medicines to patients, but there were almost no supplies for people who properly take medicine. In addition, since medicines have an expiration date, old medicines cannot be used. To ensure that people are able to take their medicines every day, it is important to take steps such as providing extra medicines regularly and establishing emergency pharmacies.

In addition, there were reports that many persons with psychosocial disabilities rented private apartments because they found it difficult to live at emergency shelters on account of the large numbers of people. Mr. A is a Kazokukai member, and the first floor of his house was washed away. He was at home when the earthquake hit, but other family members were at work. He fled on his own to the emergency shelter and was able to safely meet up with his family. After that, they lived on the second floor of his house.

The tsunami also washed away many workshops that persons with psychosocial disabilities used. Although people who worked at the workshop were safe, they had nowhere to go. While it has been possible to rebuild some workshops, there is no hope of rebuilding others. Some workshops have also had to move out of the area because of the radiation. Persons with psychosocial disabilities have lost both their homes and places to go. Some people who work at workshops lost their families to the tsunami. They were somehow able to get into a group home, but it goes without saying that they need both support for their daily lives and mental health care.

Distributing donations and using them for rebuilding

The Federation called for donations in various media such as its magazine, and around 18 million yen in donations were received. The donations were distributed to the people in Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate, which sustained major damage, and condolence money was distributed in prefectures that sustained little damaged. There were reports that it was impossible to ascertain conditions in Fukushima as people affected by the disaster had spread throughout Japan, and one million yen was given to each of five disability support offices to help them rebuild. The donations from various parties were useful for workshops that had been completely washed away by the tsunami and ones there were forced to move because of radiation.

Issues for Kazokukai

As discussed previously, the Great East Japan Earthquake has raised numerous questions for the Federation. As for Kazokukai, the bonds among each Kazokukai were weaker than expected. It was extremely difficult to ascertain the conditions of individual Kazokukai members, though it is unavoidable that it is difficult to contact people under emergency conditions. When a crisis does occur, the contact system created and mutual helpful relations developed during daily life play a part. The powerlessness of the central organization was also strongly felt. It is regrettable that it was impossible to ascertain what support was necessary, and that the Federation could only collect donations. Within the Federation, we painfully became aware that we had not created relationships that made it possible request volunteers from entities such as related organizations and schools, that during daily operations, we had not discussed issues such as actual support for emergencies, that we had not become a mobile organization for various reasons, such as the elderly still making up a majority of members. I would like to reinforce the connections with families, Kazokukai members, and related parties and deepen discussions regarding the ideal form during disasters.