The Associations between Self-Reported Exposure to the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Zone and Mental Health Disorders in Ukraine

Substance use disorder in the context of the economic crisis, covid-19 pandemic and social unrest: a cross-sectional study across Beirut (2020-2021)

BACKGROUND

Substance use disorder (SUD) is related to the interplay of various factors. The primary objective of this study was to assess the variation in substance use (SU) among a set of Lebanese people undergoing treatment for SUD during the Lebanese economic crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and Beirut Blast.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study including Lebanese adults previously diagnosed with and being treated for SUD at the Skoun center was conducted. Data collection was done using a paper-based Arabic questionnaire tackling the economic crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Beirut Blast, as well as the following scores: APGAR, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-6. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 with P value<0.05 considered significant. A bivariate analysis was conducted to study the association between the use of substances and study variables and scores.

RESULTS

The sample included 126 men and 10 women. Most participants had a stable consumption of illicit drugs (58.8%), alcohol (76.5%), prescription drugs (70.6%) and non-prescription drugs (89%). Additionally, most participants had concomitant mild or moderate depression (55.1%), mild or moderate anxiety (50.7%), and PTSD (61.8%). Factors found to significantly increase SU were economic distress, change in employment status, and decrease in working hours. PTSD was also identified as a risk factor for increased illicit drug and alcohol use. Furthermore, severe anxiety was found to be a risk factor for increased alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSION

Most participants were able to maintain a stable pattern of SU despite the quadruple crisis in Lebanon highlighting the important role played by Lebanese Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and efforts employed to control SUD.

Reliability and Validity of Chinese Version of the Perceived Competence Scale for Disaster Mental Health Workforce: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to translate the English version of the Perceived Competence Scale for Disaster Mental Health Workforce (PCS-DMHW) into Chinese, and to test its reliability and validity in Chinese mental health workers.

METHODS

With the consent of Professor Choi, Keimyung University, Korea, and the authorization of the scale, the English version of PCS-DMHW was translated, retranslated and culturally debugged to form the Chinese version of PCS-DMHW. The general information questionnaire and the Chinese version of PCS-DMHW scale were used to investigate 706 mental health workforce from 9 tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province in China from March 24, 2020 to April 14, 2020. The Cronbach's α coefficient was used to evaluate the internal consistency reliability of the scale, and the test-retest correlation coefficient r was used to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the scale. The content validity indexes (CVI) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used separately for evaluating the content validity and structure validity of the scale.

RESULTS

The Cronbach's α coefficient of the Chinese version of PCS-DMHW total scale, individual competences and organizational competences subscale was 0.978, 0.956, and 0.964, respectively. The test-retest reliability of the total scale, individual competences and organizational competences subscale was 0.949, 0.932 and 0.927, respectively. The item-level CVI of all scale were ranged from 0.833-1.000, the scale-level CVI (S-CVI)/universal agreement of the total scale, individual competences and organizational competences subscale was 0.833, 0.875, and 0.857, respectively, and the S-CVI/average was 0.972, 0.979, and 0.976, respectively. EFA showed that two principal components were extracted from the subscale of individual competences and organizational competences.

CONCLUSION

The Chinese version of PCS-DMHW has good reliability and validity, and can be widely used in China.

[Clinical and psychological characteristics of people with prenosological forms of alcohol consumption residing in radioactively contaminated territories of the Southern Urals]

OBJECTIVE

To identify clinical and psychological features of people with prenosological forms of alcohol consumption residing in radioactively contaminated territories (RCT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventy-eight people born in 1960 and earlier with prenosological forms of alcohol consumption residing in RCT took part in the study. They composed 2 groups: Group I (people (n=37) postnatally exposed to combined external and internal radiation), Group II (people (n=41) not exposed to radiation). The groups are comparable for age and sex. Clinical, polling, clinical/ psychological and statistical methods were used.

RESULTS

People with excessive (risky) levels of alcohol consumption (p=0.041) are statistically significantly more often identified in group 1. Noting relatives who abuse alcohol, people from this group consider a brother (p=0.042) and highlight residence in the RCT, as one of the factors affecting their health (p=0.025). They believe that moving to an ecological clean area will improve their health (p=0.039).

CONCLUSION

Alcohol abuse can be a predictor of the development of alcohol dependence in the exposed population, which predetermines the need to develop and implement preventive measures aimed at preventing the transition from prenosological forms of alcohol consumption to alcohol dependence.

Predictors of Mental Health Help-Seeking During COVID-19: Social Support, Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health Symptoms

Little is known about factors that contribute to mental health help-seeking during disasters beyond attitudes toward counseling. The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) global pandemic dramatically impacted individuals, families, and communities worldwide. The pandemic led to significant disruptions to family routines, and evidence suggests an increase in instances of mental health symptoms, like depression and anxiety, and poor utilization of mental health services. To better understand psychological factors associated with help-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers surveyed respondents (n = 1,533 at time 1) about their mental health and help-seeking using Amazon's MTurk platform. The results indicated that individuals with higher levels of anxiety rate their likelihood of help-seeking as higher and those who do seek psychological help report higher levels of depression. Further, those who began new treatment for behavioral health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic reported lower social support and less clarity about how they felt (specifically, emotional clarity when upset). Implications for clinical researchers and public health are discussed.

Psychological Consequences of the Flint Water Crisis: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVE

To summarize existing literature on the mental health impact of the Flint Water Crisis.

METHODS

In March 2020, we searched 5 databases for literature exploring the psychological consequences of the crisis. Main findings were extracted.

RESULTS

132 citations were screened and 11 included in the review. Results suggest a negative psychological effect caused by the water crisis, including anxiety and health worries, exacerbated by lowered trust in public health officials, uncertainty about the long-term impacts of the crisis, financial hardships, stigma, and difficulties seeking help. There was evidence that concerns about tap water continued even after the state of emergency was lifted.

CONCLUSIONS

With a possible compound effect to residents of Flint with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the results highlight the need for more resources for psychological health interventions in Flint as well as a need for local governments and health authorities to regain the trust of those affected by the Flint Water Crisis.

Mental health impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on parents in high-risk, low income communities

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 has spread across the globe, resulting in significant changes in virtually every aspect of life. Mitigation efforts, like shelter-in-place orders, have taken a particular toll on parents who have had to navigate disruptions in work and/or school schedules. Research from high-income countries demonstrates increased parental anxiety, stress, depression, and burnout resulting from the pandemic. It is unclear if these outcomes are the same for parents in high-risk communities in low-income countries where pre-pandemic conditions were deleterious. This study addresses this gap and examines the mental health impact of the pandemic on parents in high-risk communities in Guatemala.

METHODS

A total of 330 individuals from 11 districts in Guatemala participated in the study and were assessed for sociodemographic characteristics and mental health impairment. Chi-squares were conducted for bivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

Bivariate analysis revealed differences between groups on burnout, with parents more often reporting feelings of burnout than nonparents (p < .001). Binary regression demonstrated that non-parents were 70% less likely to endorse feelings of stress as compared to parents (OR = .285; p = .014).

CONCLUSION

Our findings underscore the importance of identifying the unique mental health impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on parents in high-risk communities. In high-risk communities, parental stress is a pressing problem that, if unaddressed, has the potential to result in even greater psychological distress and child maltreatment. Training community healthcare providers to assess and address parental stress can lead to increased community capacity and the development of a community-based network to serve as a first line of support for parents and their children.

The Protective Role of Parent Resilience on Mental Health and the Parent-Child Relationship During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is linked to particularly potent psychological effects for children and their caregivers while families adjust to new daily routines for work, education, and self-care. Longitudinal associations are presented from a national sample of 271 parents (mean age = 35.29 years, 48.5% female) on resilience, mental health and stress indicators, and parenting outcomes. Multigroup path model results indicate significant associations between resilience and parent stress or parent perceived child stress initiates a sequence of significant linkages to parent depression, followed by caregiver burden and parent-child relationship quality. This final set of linkages between depression and both parenting outcomes were significantly stronger for men, who also reported higher rates of perceived child stress. Results suggest that fathers' depression symptoms and associated spill-over to perceived child stress is producing stronger effects on their parenting experiences than effects reported by mothers.

Mental Health Literacy: a Critical Target for Narrowing Racial Disparities in Behavioral Health

One of the most persistent and troubling health disparities is the underutilization of mental health services, particularly for depression and anxiety, commonly occurring behavioral health concerns. The gap between individuals who need mental health care and those who receive care is large, and identified barriers to treatment include poor mental health and insurance literacy, as well as stigmatizing attitudes toward mental health disorders. The present study presents the results of an inquiry into the mental health literacy, insurance literacy, internalized stigma, and mental health symptoms. Results suggest that mental health literacy is poor and associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, internalized stigma, and caregiver burden. Implications of poor mental health literacy, as well as demographic disparities in literacy, are discussed.

Short-term impacts of COVID-19 on family caregivers: Emotion regulation, coping, and mental health

Background

The negative mental health impact of coronavirus disease 2019‐related stressors may be heightened for those caring for children, who bear responsibity for their welfare during disasters.

Aim

Based on the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, we inquired whether caregivers' emotion regulation and coping behavior were associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).

Materials & Methods

Data were collected through a national online survey in April 2020, and again 60 days later.

Results:Of the 801 longitudinal cases, 176 (63.6% female; mean age = 33.5) reported caring for minors in their homes during the pandemic. Over 20% of caregivers experienced clinically concerning PTSS, rates higher than their noncaregiving counterparts. Regression analysis indicates caregivers' baseline mental health symptoms and emotion regulation predicted PTSS 60 days later.

Discussion

Implications for needed parenting supports among families experiencing traumatic stress are provided.

Conclusion

Anxiety symptoms at baseline were the most significant and consistent contributor to all models and were significantly higher among those with clinically concerning levels of PTSS suggesting a clear intervention target.

Mental Health and Neuropsychiatric Aftermath 35 Years After the Chernobyl Catastrophe: Current State and Future Perspectives

OBJECTIVE

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) disaster that happened in Ukraine on the 26th of April 1986 still represents the most severe nuclear accident in human history. Its consequences, especially those involving mental health are increasingly emerging as long-term detrimental effects. Therefore, the aim of the present paper was to review the results of some of authors' studies and their personal reflections on this topic.

METHOD

The authors selected and commented on the findings mainly derived from their contributions on the prevalence of long-term psychopathological symptoms and neuropsychiatric disorders in diferent groups of exposed and non exposed individuals, including the workers at the NPP the so-called liquidators (CUWs), the most exposed group, evacuees and people living in more or less contaminated areas.

RESULTS

The main findings derived from a series of studies carried out by the authors throughout the following decades after the disaster indicate the high prevalence of cerebrovascular diseases, organic mental and depressive disorders, cognitive impairment and even dementia that increase with the irradiation dose mainly amongst the liquidators. The organic disorders are probably related to a peculiar effect of radiation on left, dominant brain hemisphere. Interestingly, recent studies revealed abnormalities of the serotonin transporter and other genes disorders possibly at the basis of depression of exposed individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

The high prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders amongst irradiated subjects following the ChNPP disaster highlights the impact of radiation exposure on the lifelong onset of neuropsychiatric disorders, for too long neglected by international agencies. Such findings require to be deepened in the future possibly within the frame of the so-called "ecological psychiatry".

Factors Contributing to Parents' Psychological and Medical Help Seeking During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine orders will impact the mental health of millions of individuals in the United States. Mental health difficulties, including depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, and other negative mental health sequelae are likely and likely to persist. These challenges will require response from the psychotherapeutic and medical community that addresses the mental health needs of the population. Using binary logistic regression (n = 322 at time 1, and n = 189 at time 2), researchers in the present study examined promotive factors related to having sought medical or behavioral health treatment during a 30-day period in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Approximately 10% of the sample indicated having sought either type of help. Results from the binary logistic regressions indicated those who sought counseling or medical help were those who reported increased depression symptoms at time 1. The likelihood of help seeking was heightened for those who reported greater caregiving burden, highlighting the need to consider the availability of services for those caring for children during this community-wide crisis.

Environmental pollution and mental health: a narrative review of literature

Pollutant agents are exponentially increasing in modern society since industrialization processes and technology are being developed worldwide. Impact of pollution on public health is well known but little has been described on the association between environmental pollutants and mental health. A literature search on PubMed and EMBASE has been conducted and 134 articles published on the issue of pollution and mental health have been included, cited, reviewed, and summarized. Emerging evidences have been collected on association between major environmental pollutants (air pollutants, heavy metals, ionizing radiation [IR], organophosphate pesticides, light pollution, noise pollution, environmental catastrophes) and various mental health disorders including anxiety, mood, and psychotic syndromes. Underlying pathogenesis includes direct and indirect effects of these agents on brain, respectively, due to their biological effect on human Central Nervous System or related to some levels of stress generated by the exposure to the pollutant agents over the time. Most of emerging evidences are still nonconclusive. Further studies should clarify how industrial production, the exploitation of certain resources, the proximity to waste and energy residues, noise, and the change in lifestyles are connected with psychological distress and mental health problems for the affected populations.

Radiation Risk Analysis of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Ukrainian Chornobyl Catastrophe Liquidators

Goal: To explore the possible impact of ionizing radiation in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders amongst clean-up workers of the Chornobyl catastrophe (liquidators). Design, object, and methods: Retrospective-prospective study (1987-2015) of liquidators from the State Register of Ukraine (SRU) with radiation doses records and Clinical-Epidemiological Register (CER) of the State Institution ≪National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine≫ (NRCRM). Moreover, cohort and cross-sectional studies of the randomized sample of liquidators from the CER (exposed group, 198 subjects) were examined. Internal control group included the liquidators irradiated in doses <50.0 mSv (42 persons). All subjects were assessed by a detailed clinical examination and a battery of standardized neuropsychiatric scales, psychometric, and neuropsychological tests. Descriptive and variation statistics, non-parametric criteria, regression-correlation analysis, survival analysis by Kaplan & Meier, and risk analysis were used. Results: Exposed group vs. control group showed cognitive disorders in 99 (50.0%) vs. 20 (18.1%), (P = 0.04); affective disorders in 96 (48.3%) vs. 36 (32.7%) (P = 0.007), and stress-related disorders in 115 (58.4%) vs. 8 (7.3%) (P < 0.001). In the main group exposed to ≥50 mSv vs. internal control group (exposed to <50 mSv), affective disorders were present, respectively, in 89 (56.4%) vs. 7 (19.1%) (P < 0.001), and stress-related disorders in 98 (62.8%) vs. 17 (40.4%) (P = 0.009). Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidential intervals (95%CI) of Incidence of some neuropsychiatric disorders in liquidators of 1986-1987 related to internal control (doses <50 mSv) were as follows: organic psychosis (RR = 3.15; 95% CI: 2.6; 3.7); non-psychotic organic brain damage (RR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.6; 2.5); acute (RR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.3; 1.5), and chronic cerebrovascular disorders (RR = 1.23; 95% CI 1.0;1.5). Neuropsychiatric diseases show a strong, increasing, and approximately quadratic statistically significant (Pv < 0.001) relationship with individual dose, yielding an estimated excess relative risk ERR = 2.76 Sv-2 (95% CI 1.06-7.15). Conclusions: Liquidators have an excess of cognitive, affective, and stress-related disorders. The risk of diseases rises with radiation dose. Radiation risks are revealed for organic psychoses, non-psychotic organic brain damage, acute and chronic cerebrovascular pathology.

The psychological consequences of (perceived) ionizing radiation exposure: a review on its role in radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction

PURPOSE

Exposure to ionizing radiation following environmental contamination (e.g., the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents), radiotherapy and diagnostics, occupational roles and space travel has been identified as a possible risk-factor for cognitive dysfunction. The deleterious effects of high doses (≥1.0 Gy) on cognitive functioning are fairly well-understood, while the consequences of low (≤0.1 Gy) and moderate doses (0.1-1.0 Gy) have been receiving more research interest over the past decade. In addition to any impact of actual exposure on cognitive functioning, the persistent psychological stress arising from perceived exposure, particularly following nuclear accidents, may itself impact cognitive functioning. In this review we offer a novel interdisciplinary stance on the cognitive impact of radiation exposure, considering psychological and epidemiological observations of different exposure scenarios such as atomic bombings, nuclear accidents, occupational and medical exposures while accounting for differences in dose, rate of exposure and exposure type. The purpose is to address the question that perceived radiation exposure - even where the actual absorbed dose is 0.0 Gy above background dose - can result in psychological stress, which could in turn lead to cognitive dysfunction. In addition, we highlight the interplay between the mechanisms of perceived exposure (i.e., stress) and actual exposure (i.e., radiation-induced cellular damage), in the generation of radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. In all, we offer a comprehensive and objective review addressing the potential for cognitive defects in the context of low- and moderate-dose IR exposures.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall the evidence shows prenatal exposure to low and moderate doses to be detrimental to brain development and subsequent cognitive functioning, however the evidence for adolescent and adult low- and moderate-dose exposure remains uncertain. The persistent psychological stress following accidental exposure to low-doses in adulthood may pose a greater threat to our cognitive functioning. Indeed, the psychological implications for instructed cohorts (e.g., astronauts and radiotherapy patients) is less clear and warrants further investigation. Nonetheless, the psychosocial consequences of low- and moderate-dose exposure must be carefully considered when evaluating radiation effects on cognitive functioning, and to avoid unnecessary harm when planning public health response strategies.

Posttraumatic Stress and Depression in the Aftermath of Environmental Disasters: A Review of Quantitative Studies Published in 2018

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

As interest in the mental health consequences of environmental disasters increases, this review aimed to summarize peer-reviewed studies published in 2018 on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms after such events.

RECENT FINDINGS

Notable trends in the past year of research included studies focusing on vulnerable populations (e.g., persons with preexisting physical health conditions), assessing the cumulative impact of exposure to multiple disasters, exploring pathway leading to PTSD and depression symptoms, and evaluating the effectiveness of post-disaster interventions. Over 100 articles were identified, focused on 40 disasters that occurred between 1982 and 2017. Prevalence estimates ranged from 0 to 70.51% for PTSD and 1.9 to 59.5% for depression. Consistent predictors of adverse outcomes included female gender, socioeconomic disadvantage, high disaster exposure, and low psychosocial resources. Further research that expands upon recent advances in the literature is critical given the large proportion of the world's population exposed to disasters and the increasing incidence of such events.

Initial Challenges of Caregiving During COVID-19: Caregiver Burden, Mental Health, and the Parent-Child Relationship

Research confirms that the mental health burdens following community-wide disasters are extensive, with pervasive impacts noted in individuals and families. It is clear that child disaster outcomes are worst among children of highly distressed caregivers, or those caregivers who experience their own negative mental health outcomes from the disaster. The current study used path analysis to examine concurrent patterns of parents' (n = 420) experience from a national sample during the early months of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic. The results of a multi-group path analysis, organized by parent gender, indicate good fit to the data [X²(10) = 159.04, p < .01]. Results indicate significant linkages between parents' caregiver burden, mental health, and perceptions of children's stress; these in turn are significantly linked to child-parent closeness and conflict, indicating possible spillover effects for depressed parents and compensatory effects for anxious parents. The impact of millions of families sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic for an undefined period of time may lead to unprecedented impacts on individuals' mental health with unknown impacts on child-parent relationships. These impacts may be heightened for families whose caregivers experience increased mental health symptoms, as was the case for fathers in the current sample.

A validation of the diathesis-stress model for depression in Generation Scotland

Depression has well-established influences from genetic and environmental risk factors. This has led to the diathesis-stress theory, which assumes a multiplicative gene-by-environment interaction (GxE) effect on risk. Recently, Colodro-Conde et al. empirically tested this theory, using the polygenic risk score for major depressive disorder (PRS, genes) and stressful life events (SLE, environment) effects on depressive symptoms, identifying significant GxE effects with an additive contribution to liability. We have tested the diathesis-stress theory on an independent sample of 4919 individuals. We identified nominally significant positive GxE effects in the full cohort (R2 = 0.08%, p = 0.049) and in women (R2 = 0.19%, p = 0.017), but not in men (R2 = 0.15%, p = 0.07). GxE effects were nominally significant, but only in women, when SLE were split into those in which the respondent plays an active or passive role (R2 = 0.15%, p = 0.038; R2 = 0.16%, p = 0.033, respectively). High PRS increased the risk of depression in participants reporting high numbers of SLE (p = 2.86 × 10-4). However, in those participants who reported no recent SLE, a higher PRS appeared to increase the risk of depressive symptoms in men (β = 0.082, p = 0.016) but had a protective effect in women (β = -0.061, p = 0.037). This difference was nominally significant (p = 0.017). Our study reinforces the evidence of additional risk in the aetiology of depression due to GxE effects. However, larger sample sizes are required to robustly validate these findings.

NEUROPSYCHOBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF AFFECTIVE AND COGNITIVE DISORDERS IN THE CHORNOBYL CLEAN-UP WORKERS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE SPECIFIC GENE POLYMORPHISMS

Relevance of the present work is determined by the considerable prevalence of both affective and cognitive disor-ders in the victims due to the Chornobyl accident, the pathogenesis of which is insufficiently studied.Objective is to identify the neuropsychiobiological mechanisms of the formation of the remote affective and cog-nitive disorders following exposure to ionizing radiation taking into account the specific gene polymorphisms.Design, object and methods of research. The retrospective and prospective cohort study with the external andinternal control groups. The randomized sample of the male participants in liquidation of the consequences of theaccident (Chornobyl clean-up workers, liquidators) at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in 1986-1987(n = 198) recruited from the Clinico-epidemiological registry (CER) of NRCRM aged 39-87 (M ± SD: 60.0-8.5 years)with the external irradiation dose ranged 0.6-5900.0 mSv (M ± SD: 456.0 ± 760.0 mSv) was examined. The compar-ison group (n = 110) consisted of the unexposed patients of the Radiation Psychoneurology Department with thecorresponding age and sex (the external control group). The internal control group included the liquidators irradi-ated at doses < 50.0 mSv (n = 42). The standard diagnostic neuropsychiatric scales, psychodiagnostic questionnairesand tests, neuropsychological methods (including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) with premorbid IQ(pre-IQ) assessment), neuropsychiatric and psychophysiological methods (quantitative EEG (qEEG) and the audito-ry cognitive evoked potentials (Event-Related Potentials, ERP) were applied. The genotypes of the serotonin trans-porter gene SLC6A4 were determined by the 5_HTTLPR and rs25531 polymorphisms. The methods of descriptive and vari-ation statistics, non-parametric criteria, regression-correlation analysis, survival analysis by Kaplan - Meier and riskanalysis were used.Results. Cerebrovascular diseases, organic mental and depressive disorders, mainly of radiation-stress-relatednature, prevail among the liquidators. The overall risk of neuropsychiatric pathology increases (Pv < 0.001) with theirradiation dose. The verbal memory and learning are impaired, as well as the full IQ is reduced at the expense of theverbal one. The frequency of both mild cognitive impairment and dementia is risen. The cognitive impairment atdoses > 0.3 Sv is dose-dependent (r = 0.4-0.7; p = 0.03-0.003). Affective disorders (depression) and neurocogni-tive deficit are more severe at higher doses of irradiation (> 50 mSv). In the left posterior temporal region(Wernicke's area) the qEEG indices changes become dose-dependent at doses greater than 0.25-0.3 Sv. The dis-turbed brain information processes lateralized to the Wernicke's area are observed even at doses > 50 mSv. The car-riers of intermediate and low-level genotypes (LА/S, LА/LG, LG/LG, LG/S, S/S) of the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4have more depressive disorders, especially severe ones, and tend to have more frequent and severe cognitive andstress-related disorders.The debut of depressive disorders in the carriers of the intermediate and low-activity genotypes occurs much earli-er (Log-Rank Test = 4.43, p = 0.035) in comparison with the carriers of the high-performance genotype LА/ LА.Conclusions. The radiation-induced dysfunction of the cortico-limbic system in the left dominant hemisphere ofthe human brain with a specific involvement of the hippocampus is considered to be the key cerebral basis of post-radiation organic brain damage. The association of genotypes by 5_HTTLPR and rs25531 polymorphisms of the SLC6A4gene with affective and cognitive disorders suggests the presence of neuropsychobiological features of these dis-orders associated with ionizing radiation depending on the certain gene polymorphisms.