Twenty-two percent of elderly atomic bomb survivors who live alone say they have chosen to do so because they had given up on the idea of marrying and having families due to fears of discrimination and their own anxieties, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned in a recent survey. 

This is why there are proportionally more elderly A-bomb survivors living alone than there are ordinary elderly people living alone. 

The survey showed the respondents are still suffering from physical disorders and mental instability due to their exposure to radioactivity, and the trauma they experienced. In addition, they suffer from a sense of loneliness and have flashbacks of the bombings. 

Seventy-five percent said they want to pass on their experiences to future generations. 

The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted the survey in cooperation with the Hiroshima Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, and the Institute for Peace Science, both of which are attached to Hiroshima University. From late last month to the middle of this month, 350 A-bomb survivors were contacted through A-bomb survivors organizations in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Osaka prefectures and Tokyo. A total of 139 people aged 62 to 93 responded. There were 24 men and 114 women. One declined to specify gender. 

Twenty percent said they had experienced discrimination in their marriages, while 30 percent said they felt hesitant or anxious. Nineteen had never married, five of whom said they did not marry because of their experiences. 

Forty-three of the 118 married respondents said that when they had children, they were worried about the impact their exposure to radiation might have on their children. Among the 19 respondents who do not have children, seven said they gave up on the idea because of their experiences. 

Twenty-nine percent of the respondents who have children said they felt guilty about having children because their children or grandchildren might be discriminated against or be born with defects. Some of them broke off their relations with their children or grandchildren. 

In Nagasaki, the ratio of A-bomb survivors aged 65 and older who live on their own is 17 percent, 4 percent higher than ordinary elderly people. 

In Hiroshima, an estimated 21 percent of A-bomb survivors aged 60 and older live alone. 
The respondents said they suffer from various health disorders such as cataracts at 47 percent, hepatic function disorder at 23 percent, cancer at 17 percent and thyroid gland disorder at 12 percent. Eighty-one percent of them complained of physical disorders. Thirty percent said they feel lonely, while 28 percent said they had flashbacks of the bombings. Twenty percent said they find it hard to laugh. 

Ninety-three percent live on a pension and 77 percent depend on the 30,000 yen or so they receive in health care allowances under the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law. 

Seventy-seven percent said they feel anxious about their future. Twenty-three percent said they want to go into a nursing home, while 21 percent hope to find somebody to help them with housework. Seventeen percent said they need to receive support, including financial and housing support. 

Of those who said they wanted to pass on their experiences to younger generations, 63 percent said they wanted to do so to promote nuclear disarmament, while 50 percent said they felt obliged to do so. Fifty-two percent of them said they have already passed on their experiences to their children or grandchildren. 

Prof. Megu Otaki of the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, said the survey shows many A-bomb survivors were hesitant about getting married or having children because they were worried about the genetic influence of radiation. 
He said their worries would be eliminated by creating an environment in which they can receive medical and nursing care all times, and by arranging for them to have more contact with people in their communities.