JP

Organization

Research Division

Disaster Medical Science Division
Disaster Psychiatry Lab
Professor
M.D., Ph.D.
Graduate School of Medicine
Research Subject(s)
Investigations into the effects of a disaster on the mental health conditions of people in the affected communities, and factors affecting the trajectory of recovery from the impact. Researches for developing mental health systems resilient to disasters and technologies useful to improve mental health in the communities affected by a disaster.
Key Words
Psychiatry / Mental Health / Resilience / Posttraumatic Stress Disorder / Depression
Website
Research Activities

We run a "Shichigahama Health Promotion Project" as a collaborative project integrating an annual health survey of residents affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and psychosocial support of residents and the official workers. Based on the survey, we investigate the effects of a disaster on the mental health conditions of people in the affected communities, and factors affecting the trajectory of recovery from the impact.

We run researches to develop technologies useful to improve mental health in the communities affected by a disaster. We investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the pathogeneses of posttraumatic stress disorder to improve the assessment and treatment of the disorder.We intgrate virtual reality and biosensing technologies to understand and manage stress caused by a disaster. 

We run researches to develop mental health systems resilient to disasters. We accumulate information regarding mental health support at postdisaster settings and extract the essensse of the activities and promlems to be improved. Also, we We accumulate information to improve disaster preparedness of psychiatric medical institutes.

Selected Works

Kobayashi N, et. al., Tomita H. (2020). Experiences of perinatal women and public healthcare providers in a community affected by the great east Japan earthquake and tsunami: Concerns that must be considered for the mental healthcare of perinatal women in postdisaster settings.
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 51, 101767, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101767

Seto M, et. al. Tomita H. (2019). Post-disaster mental health and psychosocial support in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake: a qualitative study. BMC Psychiatry. 19(1):261, doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2243-z.

Nakaya N, et. al., Tomita H. (2018). Effect of tsunami drill experience on actual evacuation behavior after the onset of the Great East Japan Earthquake. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 28, 206-213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.037

Yu Z, et. al., Tomita H. (2017). Microglial production of TNF-alpha is a key element of sustained fear memory. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 59, 313-321, doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.08.011.

Tsuchiya N, et. al., Tomita H. (2017). Impact of social capital on psychological distress and interaction with house destruction and displacement after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 71(1), 52-60, doi: 10.1111/pcn.12467.

Selected Memberships
  • The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology
  • The Japanese Society of Biological Psychiatry
  • The Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology
  • The Japanese Society of Schizophrenia Research
  • The Japan Society of Human Genetics