Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine chronic post traumatic stress and mental health of 5․18 victims. Subjects were 291 5․18 victims and 43 control group. Data were collected through trained examiners' interview and survey. The results showed that 41.6% of 518 victims were diagnosed as PTSD. If more rigid criteria were applied, 24.9% ~ 29.5% of respondents were diagnosed as PTSD. 55.8% of the wounded, the arrested, and bereaved families were diagnosed as PTSD and if more rigid criteria were applied, 32.8% were diagnosed as PTSD. Particularly, the wounded group and bereaved families showed the worst mental health. That is, they showed high scores in all symptoms including anxiety, depression, and somatization. In the case of current life stress, the wounded, the arrested, and bereaved families more suffered from economic difficulty, job problem, and disease of self and families than other groups and control group. Finally, the meanings of these results, suggestions for future studies, and limitations of this study were discussed.