lions knew
The twin lions that guard the gates of Eastern temples are said to represent confusion and paradox, and anyone who seeks wisdom must be willing to pass through both.
times of no waves
times of no waves and sunny weather finally subduing the consistent rain and just getting awakened fully in the nature - the waterfall in the cove of the other day now a trickle - but what a idyllic trickle - and the mountains now lush and green and wind blowing strong in bursts and these four chickens like pets and the outside room get more and more, well, '快適' (kaiteki), as they say in these parts.
sometimes the sun
rain, so much rain of late, though this morning blue sky and enticing me out early to SUP across the ocean to distant cove and witness waterfall tumbling into sheltered bit of paradise whilst later serenely sitting, taken south by a current roused by northern winds, glided past leaves falling from trees just there on these white sand beaches whose clear oceans lap and lap and lap......
fish
swimming the other week now it was - normally all the fish - just going about their business - swimming - feeding - chilling - doing whatever fish do - but this one fish started to come for me - like - it's only a fish and all - but it was coming for me - me this comparatively big creature - but size didn't seem to matter - it had something to convey - it freaked me out - I'd flap my foot to keep it away - or wave my hand - all slow motion in it's fluid water world - kept it away for a second - before it relaunched itself towards me - I started swimming to shore - looking over my shoulder - still coming it was - like some kind of super awake being - a message for me - for us - for humankind - or just to nibble on me - but that seemed so not written on it's face - it's little fish face - all bursting with an urgency - that penetrated - beyond any layer of delusional superiority I may have held - that humans are greater than fish - hit me right in my core - maybe that was the message - though so felt like there was something more
obvious?
This we know: the Earth does not
belong to man, man belongs to the
Earth. All things are connected like the
blood that unites us all. Man did not
weave the web of life, he is merely
a strand in it. Whatever he does to
the web, he does to himself.
Chief Seattle
that deep self
At the psychic level [of transpersonal development], a person might temporarily dissolve the separate-selfsense (the ego...) and find an identity with the entire gross or sensorimotor world--so-called nature mysticism. You are on a nice nature walk, relaxed and expansive in your awareness, and you look at a beautiful mountain, and wham!--suddenly there is no looker, just the mountain--and you are the mountain. You are not in here looking at the mountain out there. There is just the mountain, and it seems to see itself, or you seem to be seeing it from within. The mountain is closer to you than your own skin. ... You are a "nature mystic." ... [In regard to this higher, transpersonal self] I am a big fan of the [ecopsychologists]. They have an important message for the modern world: to find that deep Self that embraces all of nature, and thus to treat nature with the same reverence you would extend to your own being.
Ken Wilber, Brief History of Everything, p 202
GAIA MEDITIATIONS
John Seed and Joanna Macy
What are you? What am I? Intersecting cycles of water, earth, air and fire, that's what I am, that's what you are. WATER — blood, lymph, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon, tides within and tides without. Streaming fluids floating our cells, washing and nourishing through endless riverways of gut and vein and capillary. Moisture pouring in and through and out of you, of me, in the vast poem of the hydrological cycle. You are that. I am that. EARTH — matter made from rock and soil. It too is pulled by the moon as the magma circulates through the planet heart and roots suck molecules into biology. Earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate and excrete the earth, are made from earth. I am that. You are that. AIR — the gaseous realm, the atmosphere, the planet's membrane. The inhale and the exhale. Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees and breathing in their fresh exudations. Oxygen kissing each cell awake, atoms dancing in orderly metabolism, interpenetrating. That dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again, is what you are, is what I am. FIRE — Fire, from our sun that fuels all life, drawing up plants and raising the waters to the sky to fall again replenishing. The inner furnace of your metabolism burns with the fire of the Big Bang that first sent matter-energy spinning through space and time. And the same fire as the lightning that flashed into the primordial soup catalyzing the birth of organic life. You were there, I was there, for each cell of our bodies is descended in an unbroken chain from that event. Through the desire of atom for molecule, of molecule for cell, of cell for organism. In that spawning of forms death was born, born simultaneously with sex, before we divided from the plant realm. So in our sexuality we can feel ancient stirrings that connect us with plant as well as animal life. We come from them in an unbroken chain — through fish learning to walk the land, feeling scales turning to wings, through the migrations in the ages of ice. We have been but recently in human form. If Earth's whole history were compressed into twenty-four hours beginning at midnight, organic life would begin only at 3 pm . . . mammals emerge at 11:30 . . . and from amongst them at only seconds to midnight, our species. In our long planetary journey we have taken far more ancient forms than these we now wear. Some of these forms we remember in our mother's womb, wear vestigial tails and gills, grow fins for hands. Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all returns. Each worn-out cell consumed, recycled . . . through mosses, leeches, birds of prey. . . . Think to your next death. Will your flesh and bones back into the cycle. Surrender. Love the plump worms you will become. Launder your weary being through the fountain of life. Beholding you, I behold as well all the different creatures that compose you — the mitochondria in the cells, the intestinal bacteria, the life teeming on the surface of the skin. The great symbiosis that is you. The incredible coordination and cooperation of countless beings. You are that, too, just as your body is part of a much larger symbiosis, living in wider reciprocities. Be conscious of that give-and-take when you move among trees. Breathe your pure carbon dioxide to a leaf and sense it breathing fresh oxygen back to you.
Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all returns.
Remember again and again the old cycles of partnership. Draw on them in this time of trouble. By your very nature and the journey you have made, there is in you deep knowledge of belonging. Draw on it now in this time of fear. You have earth-bred wisdom of your interexistence with all that is. Take courage and power in it now, that we may help each other awaken in this time of peril.
words
Had a dream
flowers bursting forth, sun bursting through ocean fogs and excitable winds and waves consistent, glinting with light.
A million blues and greens. Clarity divine. Somewhat unexpected. The birds, just dancing with nature - playing, swerving, gliding. Inspiring.
Whispy white clouds
been breathin' all day
warmin' up
in 4 weeks away I was away
ocean warmin'
people brownin'
freshwater lackin'
festival preparin'
sun shinin'
fish swimmin'
World Heritage becomin'
low cloud lingers
lingering rainy season
though not for much longer now
though not for much longer now
recent early morning paddle boarding
hazy low cloud
dolphins jumping
turtles in abundance
mating season for many
FLOATER BOY DOESN'T OFTEN MISS A SURF
Huge hike to Ishiura.
Called for Floater Boy on the way.
His van wasn't there outside his house.
So went alone.
On the way realized I'd forgot my surfboard.
Went back for it.
Climbed the mountain road.
The sun shining bright.
The swell chart I'd seen showed swell.
The view from the mountain top confirmed swell.
The wind was onshore, though not a problem.
Meditative hike down.
Mr Mustard at the bottom,
and Indonesian island living chap,
and Ken old school super student.
All working in paradise on beautiful Hatsune beach.
Though what a walk everyday. Up and down.
8mm images recorded all the way.
Beautiful day.
Beautiful movie to be.
Hiked up from Hatsune,
towards Ishiura.
Lost the path,
super steep and slippery with one hand
(the other carrying surf board and gyosan sandals).
The view from the top a delight.
Though had to stay cool as to get back down.
After numerous good decisions, and patience
Reconnected to the path.
And down to the stream in the hidden valley.
And on to surf.
Waves sweet.
Sweet waves.
And Floater Boy arrives,
naturally.
A whale jumps.
So far far away this place in the whole universe.
Surf all day.
The walk back so tiring.
The days following purely exhausting.
some quotes as Ogasawara moves nearer to World Heritage status
Ogasawara-mura Mayor Kazuo Morishita said he received news of the World Heritage recommendation at home and then came to the village office Saturday morning. "I couldn't sleep well until I was informed of it. I'm proud that the rich natural environment, which is an asset of Ogasawra, has been recognized at the world level," the mayor said.
According to the Environment Ministry, the Ogasawara Islands were highly evaluated as the number of indigenous species is high despite the area being small. However, the risk of invasive foreign species being introduced may increase if the number of tourists rises following the heritage registration.
Takaya Yasui, the director of a nonprofit organization studying wild species on the islands, said, "Measures should be taken to make sure an increase in the number of tourists won't have a harmful impact on indigenous species."
The village office has projected that the number of visitors to the islands would increase by more than 5,000 from the current 21,000 per year.
Mayumi Hanazato, head of the Ogasawaramura Tourist Association's secretariat, said, "We don't want this to be a mere transient boom but would rather take the opportunity to make the islands flourish sustainably as an ecotourism destination."
According to the Environment Ministry, the Ogasawara Islands were highly evaluated as the number of indigenous species is high despite the area being small. However, the risk of invasive foreign species being introduced may increase if the number of tourists rises following the heritage registration.
Takaya Yasui, the director of a nonprofit organization studying wild species on the islands, said, "Measures should be taken to make sure an increase in the number of tourists won't have a harmful impact on indigenous species."
The village office has projected that the number of visitors to the islands would increase by more than 5,000 from the current 21,000 per year.
Mayumi Hanazato, head of the Ogasawaramura Tourist Association's secretariat, said, "We don't want this to be a mere transient boom but would rather take the opportunity to make the islands flourish sustainably as an ecotourism destination."
letter to a friend
...wonder what you're doing now your job it's finished? - Tried to call a week or so ago - only got the answer machine - - - - I sit here now, in this so very small wooden house - in this so very still woodland - S... up on the loft reading whilst the stars above they twinkle as brightly as perhaps they twinkle anywhere in this whole world. Moved into this place a couple of days ago and when I stepped out onto the small wooden balcony and was absorbed into the sweet meditation of the trees I remembered all those years ago with Ringstead wanderings and words a wibbling and the whole future up to now yet to happen, laid out waiting, a road to be walked, a river to be ridden. Peace and joy to you my friends. Here's a quote from Kerouac, his Dharma Bums tale, eternally etched in ink on paper and dots on screens
See the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of 'em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures.
from whales to ants
moving out of whale season
and the rain has started to pour
梅雨
the rain's are falling
and white ants are rising
from the ground below
there are a thousand
on the window
attracted by the light
inside from the night
some words
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
Lao Tzu
Chernobyl - Environmental Stress - FUKUSHIMA
Environmental Stress ー One Decade After Chernobyl （１９８６）
An Exercise In Applied Ecopsychology
(from http://ecopsychology.athabascau.ca/)
An Exercise In Applied Ecopsychology
| The following is excerpted from the proceedings of an international conference sponsored by the United Nations and other bodies held in Vienna during April 1996. | (The principal author of this part of the report is Professor Terrance Lee, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrew's, St. Andrew's, Fife, in the United Kingdom. |
| ABSTRACT Environmental Stress Reactions Following the Chernobyl Accident. |
The widespread  public anxiety and pessimism about the Chernobyl accident appears to be out of all proportion to the radiation-induced health effects. The concept of stress is invoked to explain the widespread damage to general health and well-being. Stress can be defined as the process by which adverse mental experiences have negative effects on bodily functions. The mechanism is physiological, mediated through the autonomic nervous system and the endocrinological s stem. The International Chernobyl Project study was conducted by the International Advisory Committee in 1990 and published by the IAEA in 1991. The study found significant differences between "contaminated" and "clean" areas for symptoms attributable to stress. Forty-five percent (30 percent in "clean" areas) of the people believed that they had an illness due to radiation exposure. The level of general health was found to be low and almost all ailments were attributed by the population to radiation. These effects (confirmed by other studies) were compounded by poor public understanding of radiation, initial secrecy, subsequent lack of effective  communication, and the collapse of the centralized political and economic systems. Distrust of "authorities" is widespread. One important study using a regression method has shown that "economic situation" and "attitude to the future" are better predictors of stress symptoms than contamination level. A large-scale survey has compared stress effects in "restricted," "non-restricted" (but geographically close), "resettlement" and control areas. Positive differences were found between the distant control sites (surveyed for comparative purposes) and other sites, but differences between "restricted" and "non-restricted" were small. "Resettlement" areas were no better and, on some criteria, worse. Many respondents believed that they had received a dangerous dose of radiation and that their personal health had been damaged. Other studies question the effectiveness of resettlement as a countermeasure. Neither women nor the elderly show any net benefit and only in Russia is there an overall reduction in stress. |
 An important study has measured "locus of control," i.e. the belief that one can control one's own destiny, versus "fatalism". This was used to predict the response to food controls, measured directly by dose uptake. As expected, "fatalism" is associated with higher stress levels and lower compliance with food controls. Other research has shown that social support is crucial to recovery from stress and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set up community centers to provide trustworthy information, individual and group therapy, and a variety of recreational/cultural activities. A range of other initiatives with similar aims are being developed. The allocation of the prototypical public reaction to a correct diagnostic category is an obvious first step in planning future countermeasures.  False labelling such as "vegetative dystonia" and "radiophobia" is counterproductive. The same applies to the well-established category of "post-traumatic stress disorder," although this fits those exposed to the initial event. The alternative suggested is "chronic environmental stress disorder." The original stressor cannot be removed, but it is possible to change the way in which it is perceived and to enhance people's feelings of control over it. This means that beliefs and attitudes have to be changed. The problem is more one of communication than of medication. |
 I. ISSUESThe purpose of this paper is to review the nature and extent of damage to the psychosocial well-being of the populations exposed to the Chernobyl accident; to diagnose the public's reaction by placing it in context with similar events in the past; and to consider the effects of three main countermeasures. These are: food controls, resettlement, and community action. A severe obstacle to the clarification of these issues lies in the difficulty of defining the "contaminated" or "affected" areas. These extend well beyond the territories officially designated as contaminated. This is because people are aware of the great irregularity in the pattern of deposition; of the arbitrary nature of the threshold values; of the fact that averages are computed from fairly sparse measurements; and that areas identified by different authorities do not precisely coincide. In any case, they deeply distrust the authorities, are  convinced that they have reason to underplay the seriousness of the situation and, indeed, believe that there was a "cover up" during the early days.Hence, people in many areas with essentially no radioactive contamination due to the accident are nonetheless affected, albeit to a lesser extent, by the fear of it. The direct physical health effects on those living in "contaminated" areas are naturally disturbing when considered in absolute terms, but even the direct effects (i.e. thyroid cancers, which are mainly non-fatal), when seen relative to the overall health statistics of the three countries, can hardly justify the extremely high levels of public pessimism and anxiety. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, "There has been no increase in leukaemia, congenital abnormalities, adverse pregnancy outcomes or any other radiation induced disease". The physical effects certainly pale into insignificance when compared, for example, with deaths from lung cancer arising from radon gas or diseases and deaths from industrial pollution. |
It is one hundred years since the discovery of the phenomenon of radioactivity  (and, a few years later, of subatomic particles), and the consequent revolution in physics, chemistry and medicine has excited enormous and still growing scientific attention. Understandably, most of the interest in the Chernobyl accident on the part of the world community of scientists has been concentrated on radiation measurements, protection and therapy; whereas the main human legacy of the accident has been anxiety about health and a social disruption that has manifested in widespread health disorders not induced by radiation. These are attributable to the mechanisms now generally accepted by medical science as stress: the negative interaction of mental with bodily processes. As for these secondary but widespread effects, it is known that stress can be alleviated in a number of ways. An obvious one is to remove the stressor, a second is to provide people with a sense of control over the stressor and, related to this, a third is to change the ways in which the source of stress is perceived. These are huge tasks. In the present case, the original stressor cannot be removed and uncertainty over its effects, i.e. the effects of the release of radioactive materials on physical health, will remain for a generation at least. Medicine may mitigate these effects by screening, diagnosis and treatment, but it will not remove them; they have happened.The second alternative is to increase people's sense of control. As already mentioned, three specific countermeasures offering this potential are briefly reviewed in this Background Paper. They are voluntary food controls, resettlement and community action. (Medical procedures to counter any direct health effects of radiation will also increase the sense of control, but their discussion is left to other delegates.) Thirdly, the most obvious means of providing perceived control over a stressor is by diffusion of knowledge that changes the way in which it is perceived. This issue is also discussed. One final issue to be considered is that of diagnosis, It should be helpful to compare the pattern of public reaction to the Chernobyl accident with those to similar stressful events in the past. If there are consistencies, this should help with prognosis and with the evaluation of alternative countermeasures. |
| II. CONCLUSIONS 1. Expert Consensus Little disagreement has been evident in the various research studies reported in this paper; they tend to reinforce and supplement each other. There is a general consensus between psychiatrists, psychologists and sociologists that the physical and mental effects of stress are the main issue. This consensus extends to  the CIS researchers whose work has been quoted here, who have collaborated closely with those from the west, particularly through the Programme of the European Commission. A mild exception has been some conflict between the broadly psychological interpretation of events and that of a few senior radiation protection specialists from CIS countries, who have dismissed the public reactions as "radiophobia". Other problems have arisen because of differences in the ways in which mental illnesses are classified by psychiatrists from different countries. 2. Speculation and Myths Outside the scientific community, there appears to have been almost no limit to the speculation and evocation of myths by the media. It has been argued elsewhere that there is a pervasive dread of nuclear energy, which originates from its close association with the atom bomb and nuclear warfare; also, by virtue of some of the general characteristics of the hazard,  i.e. "lack of familiarity", "lack of controllability" and "no directly perceivable benefit".It is now widely accepted that the media do not generate these anxieties, but exploit them because they attract readership. There follows a process of "social amplification" as the public reacts to dramatic reporting with increased anxiety, which in turn stimulates further media promotion. Apart from wild and unsubstantiated reports of "thousands of cancer deaths," the media has specialized in photographs of children suffering from leukaemia, with the distinctive baldness of chemotherapy; also of elderly people still living in the exclusion zone and apparently suffering from terminal illness. Another favorite media image is of the children of Chernobyl enjoying the benefits of summer camp type holidays in countries abroad in order to relieve the symptoms of illness which, it is implied, afflict them. The children selected by photographers are unlikely to be the most robust ones. |
| 3. Open Questions In summarizing briefly the prospects for different supposed countermeasures, it  should perhaps first be mentioned that there are no dependable research data on the usefulness of financial compensation or "special concessions". Anecdotal evidence suggests that the laudable aim of restoring social equity by this means has failed because the inevitably arbitrary allocations have created the opposite effect, i.e. feelings of inequity and jealousy.By depleting the available financial resources for other countermeasures, the problem has been further compounded. The use of the supposed countermeasure of compensation, as with resettlement, has probably exacerbated the situation further by officially signalling to many people that their health is in serious danger when their risk is well within the normal range for radiation due to natural sources. As mentioned above, resettlement has failed so far to produce significant improvements in the sense of  well-being or reductions in anxiety, when compared with "restricted" areas. It is difficult to be sure of this, because the population may have been exposed to higher perceived or actual doses before their relocation, but it is more likely that any improvement in their lifestyle has been offset by the severe social stresses of resettlement, combined with similar anxiety and uncertainty about the future of their family's health experienced by those who remain behind in restricted" areas. This anxiety may be justified, so far as the effects of prior exposure are concerned, but it does not apply to cumulative, lifetime exposure. A vigorous educational campaign addressed to the resettlement  population is obviously needed. There is also some evidence, referred to earlier, that the Russian resettlement program may have been more successful because of its greater retention of existing community links and a more carefully phased timing. Hence, it is extremely difficult to predict whether the ultimate health improvements achieved by a reduction in lifetime dose will be greater than the damage to health from stress induced disorders. We suspect not. The clearest evidence for this comes from research showing significantly increased illness and mortality rates among elderly people subjected to involuntary moves.To resolve this, there is a clear need to monitor the health of a substantial sample of resettled peoples over, say, a five year period to assess the rate at which symptoms of stress subside and genuine rehabilitation occurs. This would provide a basis for extrapolation for comparison with radiation dose-response calculations. A strong case for community action has been made already in this paper and is re-emphasized here. Again, there is compelling evidence in the literature that social support from family, friends or community relieves stress. The best future prospects for this would appear to lie with UNESCO's "Centers of Trust". They appear to be tried and tested and the model is adaptable to local needs and circumstances. However, their importance is such that more systematic evidence of their effectiveness in relieving stress would be welcome. Arrangements are being made for peer review of the Centers and it is understood that some relevant survey evidence is currently being analyzed. |
| 4. Stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder For a better model, the evidence presented here strongly indicates that we  must turn to the concept of stress, the unique nature of the stressor itself, and some contributory factors from the political and social turmoil and the generally fatalistic attitudes of the people.The concept of stress is not a vague repository to which all ills that cannot be attributed to familiar diseases are consigned. Stress is directly measurable by a variety of physiological indices that have reliably been shown to be closely associated (in a dose-response relationship!) with adverse circumstances and events. The main agencies are the autonomic nervous system, which becomes dysfunctional under prolonged or intense emotional arousal, and the endocrinological system. Their engagement can be measured through changes at the cardiovascular level, by neural activity through the electroencephalograph; through skin conductance, through the sodium content of saliva and, perhaps most reliably, by chemical assays of the catecholamines of cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These can be taken from blood or urine samples; in the research studies following the Three Mile Island accident in the United States, it was found, when the  "affected" population was compared with controls, that these biochemical effects had persisted for several years after the accident. There is emerging evidence that the immune system may also be affected by chronic stress.Nonetheless, it is more usual to diagnose and measure stress in a clinical setting from reported symptoms such as anxiety, depression, disturbed sleep patterns, psychosomatic illness, aggression, suicide or attempted suicide, apathy ("learned helplessness"), family discord and, of course, by the recourse to such palliatives as drugs and alcohol. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the existing formal categorization which, at first sight, most closely appears to fit the Chernobyl case. This category has become widely recognized and formally classified as an illness by the American Psychiatric Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-Ill-R). PTSD is a syndrome that originates from situations where people are closely involved in a specific catastrophe, for example fire, explosion, earthquake or battle situations, which are so far from normal human experience that they provoke an extreme emotional response. The effects on the memory of this experience, combined with the secondary reactions mediated through the body systems, vary in severity and duration according to the closeness to the accident and the passage of time. Hence, those who were working at the Chernobyl plant or nearby at the time, and who witnessed the fire and explosion, would certainly fit the now classical PTSD pattern. |
However, away from the plant, most did not directly experience the event, but only received rumors of it from a variety of sources. They found it hard to come up with its true meaning until, perhaps, they  were subjected to food restrictions or evacuated. Even in the latter case, realization must have dawned slowly because many expected that they would be returning to their homes and a normal diet when the problem had been cleared up. No evidence of the accident would have been received directly via their senses. Radiation cannot be seen, felt or smelled. Insofar as there was trauma, it was not caused by direct experience of the event. It must have been the haphazard but growing conviction that things were going very seriously wrong with their lives and the lives of their children. Over the course of many, many months as information leaked out, this realization became more and more somber but was surrounded by ever increasing uncertainty. The nature of radiation was not understood, the limits of contamination were not clearly defined and constantly changing, the health effects were disputed and the many countermeasures proposed were most unevenly applied.Insofar as intrusive recollections of the accident itself and avoidance symptoms are dominant features of the classic PTSD syndrome, this diagnostic category is clearly inappropriate for the large majority of those exposed to Chernobyl. The typical chronic Chernobyl reaction includes only relatively few of the other  symptoms. The sense of "learned helplessness" - of apathy and listlessness (asthenia) that is probably the principal characteristic of the post-Chernobyl reaction, is featured as "diminished interest" and as "feelings of detachment", but otherwise the overlap is slight.Given that there have been a number of similar, if much less serious environmental threats or accidents, a new categorization would seem appropriate to resolve this dilemma. Some researchers have already recognized the need to identify a category that is similar to but distinguishable from PTSD. "Informed of Radioactive Contamination Syndrome" has been suggested. However, this would seem unnecessarily restrictive. Accidents involving a continuing awareness of chemical pollution of the soil, contamination of water supplies, seepage from a landfill site, the threat of flooding, radon gas, the discovery that roads had been sprayed with dioxin tar, even the belief that electromagnetic fields due to power lines or substations are damaging to health -- all present similar chronic threats with diffuse origins that  may result in stress. Several authors have reported evidence of physical stress effects (e.g. headaches, nausea) and attitudinal changes (e.g. demoralization, upset, perceived threat, declining quality of life and distrust of authorities) associated with toxic waste disposal sites would propose Chronic Environmental Stress Disorder (CESD) as a more useful formulation for the general population affected by the Chernobyl accident. PTSD would then be reserved for those victims who had experienced the initiating, traumatic event. |
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe following colleagues, from each of the three affected countries, provided helpful support and information for this paper but are not responsible for the opinions expressed or the conclusions reached. G.M. Rumyantseva, Serbsky Scientific Research Institute for General and Forensic Psychiatry, Moscow; A. Nyagu, Ukrainian Centre of Radiation Medicine, Ukrainian Academy of Science, Kiev, Ukraine; L.A. Ageeva, Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Institute of Sociology, Minsk, Belarus. |
(from http://ecopsychology.athabascau.ca/)
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