A psychotherapist has been assigned to to care for Ground Self-Defense Force colleagues in Fukushima Prefecture who are suffering shock as a result of their search and rescue work in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Ito Arizono, 29, provides precious relief to GSDF members whose physical and mental fatigue has been accumulating since the disaster struck more than a month ago.
In a consulting room in the GSDF's base in Fukushima, experienced GSDF members tell Arizono about their worries.
Some have a somber manner, and some speak in detached tones, but the common thread, Arizono said, is "a sense of anxiety stemming from their experience of seeing a large number of dead bodies over a long period of time."
The consultations with the GSDF members are unlike anything else in her professional experience, Arizono said. While listening to them describe atrocious scenes they have witnessed, she tries to create a supportive atmosphere.
She reassures GSDF members that they will be able to recover, and gives advice to those showing symptoms of acute stress disorder.
Arizono, from Kagoshima, obtained her psychotherapist's license after graduating from Tohoku University. She worked as a counselor at a middle school in Kagoshima Prefecture before joining the SDF.
"There are many SDF facilities in my home prefecture, so the forces have always been close to me," she said. Working in the Tohoku region, where she had spent her college years, feels natural, she said.
She first learned of the disaster when she was watching television at her parents' home in Kagoshima.
She was shocked to see how the beautiful scenery of Matsushima Bay had been destroyed. She tried to find out whether her college friends were safe, but could not find out right away.
Arizono said that when she learned she would be assigned to the Fukushima base from April, she was not deterred by the radiation and other problems at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Rather, it consolidated her determination to go to the Fukushima base.
"I wanted to contribute there," she said.
GSDF members dispatched on search and rescue missions to disaster-hit areas, such as Ishinomaki and Higashi-Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, nearly always return to the base after seeing many bodies.
"Many of them have told me about feeling psychological shock, and extreme stress and helplessness after their missions," Arizono said.
Arizono also counsels GSDF members' relatives in their homes. Sessions with family members cover a range of issues, from fears about radiation from the nuclear plant, the numerous aftershocks and anxiety about their loved ones' work.
"The GSDF members feel extreme mental fatigue after leaving mission sites. I hope I can alleviate that fatigue through counseling," Arizono said.
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