Many Hurricane Katrina Disaster (2005) Survivors Today Still Struggle with Mental Disorders?

A study led by researchers from the Princeton University revealed that many individuals who survived the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The study centered among low-income mothers in the New Orleans area.

Hurricane Katrina disaster is touted as the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. The area of New Orleans is the most affected area, and site of most deaths, due to failure of several dikes, releasing floodwaters into populated towns and submerging almost 80% of the city. It is to note that the land in New Orleans were well below the water levels of the Mississippi river.

The disaster put a heavy toll among residents of the city, especially among minorities and low-income groups. Houses, cars and buildings are badly damaged, and lots of people suffered from loss of property and unemployment after the disaster. These, among other factors like deaths of loved ones and trauma brought by the effects of the hurricane, are good recipes for development of mental disorders.

 

A unique study

For the study, researchers studied data collected before and nearly five years after the Katrina hurricane disaster. They used data from a previous research done in 2003 were it studied low-income adults. The study focused among 523 low-income mothers (mostly Blacks) who survived the storm – a particularly vulnerable group in regards to mental disorders.

Results showed that on the average, most of the participants were not back to the baseline levels. Most of them showed high levels of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder, 33%) and persistent distress (30%).  Pointed stressors are home damage, traumatic experiences during the hurricane period and death of a friend or relative.

Researchers identified home damage as the primary trigger for chronic distress and PTSD. They also noted that although most of the respondents are back in New Orleans area, almost no one presently resides in their old homes.

 

“One of the few long-term studies about individual’s reaction to large-scale disasters”

The study is unique because it reveals the medium and long-term consequences of large-scale disasters to mental health. It is also different from others because of the information gathered before the event, which obviously provides very good baseline information.

However, researchers accepted that the results should not be applied to the whole population. But rather, it should give light on the effects of disasters among vulnerable groups.

The original researchers are planning to further examine the data, and to continue tracking the respondents to see the disaster’s effects to physical health and establish educational and mental health outcomes.

The study appears in the January issue of Social Science and Medicine.

 

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