Study of Katrina Survivors Finds Storm Took Big Psychological Toll

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Study of Katrina Survivors Finds

Storm Took Big Psychological Toll

By BETSY MCKAY

August 29, 2006; Page A4

A survey of Hurricane Katrina survivors found that the proportion of people

with mental illnesses -- from increased anxiety to severe conditions --

nearly doubled after the storm, confirming widespread belief and anecdotal

evidence of a heavy psychological toll.

The study, led by Harvard Medical School, also found that thoughts of

suicide declined sharply among those with mental illnesses.

Harvard said its survey is the most comprehensive to date of the

mental-health effects on residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who

lived in

Katrina's path and whose lives as they knew them were uprooted, in some cases

forever, when the hurricane struck a year ago today.

In the poll of 1,043 adults identified through random digit-dialing, Red

Cross lists and other means, the researchers found 31% suffered some form of

mental illness in the first several months after the storm, compared with 16%

in

a 2003 mental-health survey of the same general population conducted by

Harvard for the U.S. government. Of the total surveyed, 11% suffered a serious

mental illness such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or

schizophrenia; in the 2003 survey, 6.1% experienced a serious mental illness.

Respondents were interviewed between Jan. 19 and March 31, four to seven

months after the hurricane. The findings were published in the latest online

edition of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Signs of distress ranged from frequent nightmares and irritability to

debilitating anxiety and phobias. Nearly 38% of respondents said they were

jumpier

or more easily startled than normal; 52% said they were more irritable or

angrier than usual. Among prehurricane residents of New Orleans, who made up a

large proportion of respondents, 50% reported nightmares, with 8% reporting

that they have nightmares almost every night.

At the same time, the researchers found that suicidal thoughts among those

surveyed didn't increase, and in fact declined among people with a moderate or

serious mental illness. Only 0.7% of those with moderate or serious mental

illnesses reported suicidal thoughts, compared with 8.4% in the 2003 survey.

While suicidal thoughts generally aren't common in the months after

disasters, the magnitude of the decline after Katrina was striking, said

Kessler, professor of health-care policy at Harvard Medical School and lead

author

of the study. He and his colleagues linked the low rate of suicidal thoughts

to reserves of strength and personal growth that respondents mustered after

the storm. For example, 88% of respondents said they had developed a deeper

sense of meaning or purpose in life, while 77% said they had become more

spiritual or religious.

Dr. Kessler cautioned that the protective factors offered by such sentiments

might not last, however, as the slow pace of rebuilding gradually wears on

residents. " What if things aren't better a year from now? " he said. " That's

obviously a nagging concern. "

The survey is planned for seven years, with periodic reports, and the

researchers plan to expand their focus to include children, on whom the storm

is

known to have had a significant psychological impact.

[Guest guest]

> Study of Katrina Survivors Finds

> Storm Took Big Psychological Toll

> By BETSY MCKAY

> August 29, 2006; Page A4

>

> A survey of Hurricane Katrina survivors found that the proportion

of people with mental illnesses -- from increased anxiety to severe

conditions -- nearly doubled after the storm, confirming widespread

belief and anecdotal evidence of a heavy psychological toll.

>

Happens every Hurricane!

The blame is always put squarely on the " stress " engendered by fear,

even in people who weren't even close to storm damage, but who were

just in areas that only had heavy rainfall and some flooding - along

with those pesky roof leaks.

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