Psychological Responses among Humidifier Disinfectant Disaster Victims and Their Families

Yoo, Seonyoung; Sim, Minyoung; Choi, Jungwon; Jeon, Kyoungsun; Shin, Jungha; Chung, Seockhoon; Hong, Sang-Bum; Lee, So-Yeon; Hong, Soo-Jong

It was revealed that family members of victims experienced not only anxiety and fear but also respiratory symptoms, even though their respiratory systems might not have been damaged. This result would be understandable considering previous findings, as follows: 1) toxic chemical substance disasters trigger high anxiety because it can be difficult to identify prolonged complications 18 and 2) somatization symptoms observed in toxic chemical substance disaster victims need to be regarded from both the organic and psychogenic perspectives because physical symptoms can be related to psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and anger as well as the degree of exposure to toxic chemical substances. 17 Prolonged psychological distress among victims and their family members (including the bereaved) might be caused by the absence of adequate psychological support such as psychological first aid immediately after the event. According to Ponsford et al., 19 patients in the non-intervention group reported more symptoms and were significantly more stressed than those in the early intervention group, which implies that psychological intervention immediately after a traumatic event mitigates psychological distress. Also, Brewin et al. 20 reported that outreach with screening, linked to the provision of evidence-based treatment, significantly mitigated posttraumatic symptoms among London bombing victims. In addition to the absence of psychological support, there can be several stressors such as monetary compensation and legal suits that arouse prolonged psychological distress. In fact, there is an outpouring of blame and anger from victims and their families toward the administration in terms of neglecting their duties in managing HD products as well as manufacturers and sellers.