Abstract
This is a field report which focused on the issues of traumatic stress experienced by emergency workers and volunteers at disaster relief works. Mental health care should not be limited only among disaster survivors, but should also be extended among caregivers. This is since they may have been traumatized and may further suffer from “burn-out syndrome” after being with people in grief. It could be said that the recognition and the program for such care is not enough in Japan. Experiences in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and other disasters, as well as the Great East Japan Earthquake will be presented. It would be important to share such experiences, some of the realities of the disaster relief and lessons learnt from the mental health intensive training in San Francisco, USA in 1995 and 2011 along with the valuable perspectives of mental health professionals.
