Psycho-Social Effects

With a total of approximately 400 million people affected in some way by the nuclear fallout throughout Europe, psycho-social effects were widespread (Hohenemser 1988). Many of the psychological effects relate to depression and anxiety (post-traumatic stress disorder), medically unexplained somatic symptoms (fatigue, headaches, joint and muscle pain), and substance abuse (Bromet and Havenaar 2007).

Initially following the explosions and ejection of radiation, the Soviet government kept very silent about the truth behind the disaster and its subsequent effects (Rahu 2003). In turn, those actually affected by the fallout felt no need to fear any consequences and instead thought “Look at me. I’m healthy. My cow is healthy. There is no radiation. It’s a fraud. It’s a lie. The government is just trying to take our land” (Rahu 2003:296). These sentiments followed the evacuation requests from government officials and, ultimately, in the vicinity of Chernobyl, 116,000 people were permanently evacuated (Hohenemser 1988). Although the evacuations eventually resulted in fear for the local residents, the lack of information disclosed by the government meant those fears generated rumours. The generation of fear and rumours can have negative psychological and social effects on communities as they are unsure of their futures and harbour a deep distrust of their leader and government (Rahu 2003). Some examples of rumours (Rahu 2003:296-97) existing at the time include:
• in Kiev, 15,000 nuclear victims were bulldozed into mass graves (in 1986);
• the Chernobyl disaster was an intentional experiment aimed at gathering knowledge about the effects of radiation on people (in 1996);
• as a result of radiation, over 300,000 persons have died by now (in 2000);
• most of [the clean-up workers] are now disabled, some are terminally ill and others have died (in 2000);
• as a result of the accident in Chernobyl, the number of skin cancer cases in Romania has increased 60 times (unknown year).

Besides the fear and rumours experienced by the evacuees, negative emotional and psychological distress was also caused by leaving all that was familiar and stepping into a future of unknown consequences and outcomes. Although new housing and services were provided to those that could not return to their hometowns (Becker 2002), the feelings of uncertainty and fear compounded to result in destructive behaviours such as alcohol and cigarette abuse or dietary changes (fear of possible contaminated food) (Baverstock and Williams 2007).

Similarly, negative mental health effects also burdened the clean-up workers of the accident. Although studies undertaken to provide insight on the topic are less than ideal or lacking completely, a distinct rise in suicide rates among the workers is evident (Bromet and Havenaar 2007). According to Rahu et al., the high suicide rate among Estonian clean-up workers was due to their forced recruitment, uncertainty about the radiation doses involved, and their fear surrounding future radiation-induced illnesses (1997, 2006).

Overall, it appears that the psychological effects associated with the Chernobyl disaster are solely emotionally-based. Studies have not proven that mental disorders as a result of radiation fallout has occurred (Bromet and Havenaar 2007). Those with symptoms or illness attributed to Chernobyl are often referred to as “‘Chernobyl victims’ and frequently [take] on the role of ‘invalid’ or disabled” (WHO 2006:95), only compounding the negative psycho-social effects.