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Sturgeon's House

Chernobyl Makes You Crazy


Sturgeon

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I watched this video, which I thought was a bit pretentious, but in it the host mentioned that workers at Chernobyl are prevented from staying longer than 2 weeks due to the psychological toll. I thought this was interesting, so I wanted to learn a bit more. I found this paper:
 

The mental health impact of Chernobyl is regarded by many experts as the largest public health problem unleashed by the accident to date. This paper reviews findings reported during the 20-y period after the accident regarding stress-related symptoms, effects on the developing brain, and cognitive and psychological impairments among highly exposed cleanup workers. With respect to stress-related symptoms, the rates of depressive, anxiety (especially post-traumatic stress symptoms), and medically unexplained physical symptoms are two to four times higher in Chernobyl-exposed populations compared to controls, although rates of diagnosable psychiatric disorders do not appear to be elevated. The symptom elevations were found as late as 11 y after the accident. Severity of symptomatology is significantly related to risk perceptions and being diagnosed with a Chernobyl-related health problem. In general, the morbidity patterns are consistent with the psychological impairments documented after other toxic events, such as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Three Mile Island accident, and Bhopal. With respect to the developing brain of exposed children who were in utero or very young when the accident occurred, the World Health Organization as well as American and Israeli researchers have found no significant associations of radiation exposure with cognitive impairments. Cognitive impairments in highly exposed cleanup workers have been reported by Ukrainian researchers, but these findings have not been independently confirmed. A seminal study found a significant excess death rate from suicide in cleanup workers, suggesting a sizable emotional toll. Given the magnitude and persistence of the adverse mental health effects on the general population, long-term educational and psychosocial interventions should be initiated that target primary care physicians, local researchers, and high risk populations, including participants in ongoing cohort studies.

 

 

It's really interesting how this mirrors the 1979 film Stalker, which predates the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

Someday, I'd like to take a trip into Chernobyl, as I have always had a fondness for abandoned buildings and ruins.

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Someday, I'd like to take a trip into Chernobyl, as I have always had a fondness for abandoned buildings and ruins.

Good hunting, Stalker...

 

But the findings are indeed rather interesting.  Do you know if there is another paper that shows similar findings, but for the aftermath of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs? I know the two events and culture are very different, but it would be interesting to see. 

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I watched this video, which I thought was a bit pretentious, but in it the host mentioned that workers at Chernobyl are prevented from staying longer than 2 weeks due to the psychological toll. I thought this was interesting, so I wanted to learn a bit more. I found this paper:

 

 

 

It's really interesting how this mirrors the 1979 film Stalker, which predates the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

Someday, I'd like to take a trip into Chernobyl, as I have always had a fondness for abandoned buildings and ruins.

 

Stalker has nothing to do with Chernobyl, it's set in an abstract capitalist state. Until the video game, there was no connection at all, might as well compare the disaster to Per Aspera ad Astra. 

 

I think I'd rather see Detroit, but Chernobyl is probably safer. 

 

Your odds of getting shot are probably lower.

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Stalker has nothing to do with Chernobyl, it's set in an abstract capitalist state. Until the video game, there was no connection at all, might as well compare the disaster to Per Aspera ad Astra. 

 

Um, yes, I said that. It predated the disaster after all.

It's been a while since I've watched the film, and perhaps this is the idea already being planted in my head by the video game, but I felt there were similarities between it and what the abstract of the paper said.

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Per S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (the game) the existence of Chernobyl-related mental health issues is easily explained by the brain scorcher :P

 

Per Stalker (the book), mental health issues have more to do with the fictional characters being essentially stuck in a lethal dead-end job centred around the ruins of their old town, as well as the authors being from the USSR and writing about the not-USSR during the cold war.

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