Activity of Kokorogake

fig2

In the 2012 month of 6, we started earthquake stress consultation as a collaborative work between the Japanese Psychiatric Emergency Society and Iwate Prefecture. However, by visiting with the visitors of the Council of Social Welfare, we can get close to the residents, listen to their voices, and tell us about the residents. There is a little prejudice, but I feel like it has eased.

On the other hand, as supporters from a distance, we can feel the importance of the approach of “mental health support in all life support” by touching the local reconstruction situation, climate and culture. have become.

As I was able to snuggle up and listen to the residents during the visit, problems such as alcohol problems, dementia problems, and disuse muscular weakness have been raised. As a countermeasure against these problems, “Salon + Medical Lecture” started in 7 in the same year. The contents of the salon consisted of rakugo, violin performances, exercises (Fumaneto) and other events held at temporary housing halls, etc., combined with medical lectures dealing with problems.

Purpose of the activity

In the coastal area of ​​Iwate Prefecture, where mental health resources were scarce before the earthquake, new mental health demands stemming from the experience of loss due to the earthquake and the division of ties, blood relationships, and job relationships are emerging. We organize a team of multi-disciplinary members in the mental health field, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, clinical psychologists, mental health workers, and every Friday, Saturday from 2011 in 11 to the present We are carrying out various support activities in Otsuchi Town.

1. The great earthquake that hit "medical depopulation"

In Otsuchi-cho, most of the administrative, industrial, and residential properties of the town on flat ground were devastated by the tsunami, and about 15,239 of the estimated population at the time of the disaster died or were missing. . There is a lack of medical resources in Iwate Prefecture, which is known as a “depopulated area of ​​wide-area medical care,” and there are no specialized facilities for psychiatric medical care. Today, four years of continuous activities have created a relationship of trust and the prejudice against psychiatric care has been reduced, while new mental health challenges are emerging. Demand for mental health disorders due to the earthquake disaster has been increasing as time passes since the earthquake.

2. Three “edge breaks”

With the passage of time since the Great East Japan Earthquake, changes in the living environment and aging have rapidly progressed in the disaster-stricken areas, and the future community is now being questioned more than ever.
The Great East Japan Earthquake has caused enormous loss not only for individuals but also for communities. It is a division of “edges” such as ties, blood relationships, and job relationships. The edges are invisible, inherited from generation to generation, and deeply related to the cultural climate. What this earthquake brought about was a cross-cutting and longitudinal division of such “edges”.
Now that 4 years have passed since the earthquake, the shape of those “edges” is changing. The original scenery of the homeland accompanying the reconstruction project is being lost, and there is a concern about “repartition” of the “edge”, that is, relocation stress due to movement to the reconstructed housing, aging and further loneliness.

fig3

3. Become a bridge

The word “bridge” used in our “Bridge of Hearts” comes from the spirit of Inazo Nitobe who was trying to become a “bridge of the Pacific Ocean”. For disaster recovery, it is essential to play a role as a “bridge” that values ​​collaboration and collaboration. Although we are a professional bono group (*) centered on mental health professionals, we have been actively collaborating with support organizations with different specialties with the aim of providing mental health support based on the premise of "all-life support." I went to. Activities to support the rebirth of divided, transformed local relationships, blood relationships, and occupational relationships by collaborating with many support organizations such as government agencies, regional medical institutions, educational institutions, medical associations, domestic and foreign NPOs, and private companies doing.

(*) Social contribution activities in which members of society make use of their expertise and skills.
It comes from the Latin “Pro bono publico”.