Disaster Research 155

January 23, 1995

This newsletter is reprinted with the full knowledge and consent of the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center in Boulder, CO.

SPECIAL REQUEST REGARDING KOBE EARTHQUAKE

[Thanks to conscientious reader, Larry Laufman, Ed.D., Baylor College of Medicine, llaufman@bcm.tmc.edu, who forwarded the following.]

This request was just forwarded via the TRANSCULTURAL-PSYCHOLOGY list and I thought you may want to include it in the next issue of the DISASTER RESEARCH newsletter:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
To: Multiple recipients of list SOCWORK
Subject: [psydoc@netcom.com: Japan needs help.]

Here's a message from a Social Worker in Japan--fyi
-Ricardo Ben-Safed, an677@freenet.carleton.ca, rbensafe@cap.gwu.edu

================= Begin forwarded message =================

Subject: Japan needs help.
Date: Sat, 21 Jan

The following message has been received from Japan.

Subj: SELF-HELP GROUPS IN EARTHQUAKE

Dear Members;

You may know that a big earthquake slammed Kobe, a city of WestJapan on January 17. It killed over 4000 persons. Many people arestill missing. So, the death toll would be much higher than 4000.Some members of Osaka Self-Help Support Centre must have greattroubles now because they live near Kobe. We have few telephonelines to them. So, I have no information about their presentconditions.

A radio program said that American people have "disaster psychiatrists" that specialize in helping people in disaster. Unfortunately, Japan has no such psychiatrists. I am concerned aboutthe mental health of the people damaged by this earthquake.

I am wondering whether you have any self-help group concernedabout the mental health problems that the earthquakes produced.I suppose that Los Angels, hit by earthquakes, may have suchgroups. The experience would help Kobe people after their material recovery. Do you have any paper on self-help groups workingafter disaster? I would be happy if you send me any information.

I would like to introduce mutual help experiences of the Americanin disasters to Kobe people. Especially, Japanese people have lessexperience of mutual support in psychological and psychiatric waysthan American people.

My personal e-mail address is this. KGG01217@niftyserve.or.jp.
My mailing address is;

Tomofumi OKa, Department of Social Welfare, Sophia University,
7-1, Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102 Japan.

Back to the Enviro Geog Page

Back to the Home Page.