Around a quarter of victims who responded to a survey about posttraumatic stress linked to their experience of the Aum Shinrikyo nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway 30 years ago are likely still suffering the disorder, a nonprofit support group said.
The findings by the Recovery Support Center are based on an annual survey and free medical checks conducted on hundreds of victims since 2000 following the sarin attack on March 20, 1995, that killed 14 people and injured over 6,000. It is still considered Japan's worst terrorist attack.
In the survey, respondents were asked to answer 22 questions such as whether the scene of the attack suddenly comes to mind, and if they try not to think about the incident on a five-point scale. The respondents' total score determines whether they are considered to be suffering PTSD.
The latest research conducted in 2023 on around 200 people showed 24.1 percent of both male and female respondents likely suffer PTSD, according to analysis by Yoshiro Okubo, professor emeritus at Nippon Medical School.
The ratios compare with 26.7 percent of males and 38.8 percent of females in the 2000 survey and 20.3 percent of males and 45.5 percent of females in 2010.
When asked about physical aftereffects in 2023, 56 percent said they have difficulties in focusing their vision, 44 percent said they get tired easily, 26 percent noted numbness in hands and legs, 24 percent headaches and 22 percent suffered dizziness.
With 2025 marking 30 years since the attack, the center has decided to end its activities in support of victims due to the aging of its members and a decrease in the number of victims seeking health examinations, it said.
"As the central government and public offices were slow in offering support to the victims, I had the feeling that somebody had to do it," said Shinsuke Kimura, an 80-year-old lawyer who heads the center.
Noting that victims still suffer from aftereffects, Kimura said, "I hope to set up a framework by this summer so victims can continue to interact and bond."
In the Aum Shinrikyo attack, the nerve agent was scattered in five subway train cars during the morning rush hour at the instruction of cult founder Shoko Asahara.
Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was executed at age 63 with 12 other former senior members of the cult in July 2018.
© KYODO
5 Comments
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owzer
It was terrible, but there are many others who have PTSD from one thing or another, but we don't have anyone to blame, a support group, or public sympathy. It's been 30 years. Move on.
wallace
PTSD never goes away. You just live with it. I know.
owzer
That's right, wallace.
May you have even a brief respite from whatever it is that you suffer from!
Hervé L'Eisa
Lots of us have to live with PTSD.
Fighto!
Callous attitude. You don't just "move on" from being the victim of a mass terrorist attack. The mental (and in many cases physical) damage often remains for life.
These thousands of victims deserve every bit of support and sympathy they can get. As do all sufferers of PTSD.