Psychological effects of natural disasters on victims and communities

Psychological Effects of Natural Disasters

This research paper aims at finding out if there are any psychological effects that victims of disasters face after the disaster. Additionally, it will look into the steps that should be taken to deal with such cases that may exist and will conclude by assessing the implications of such effects to the individuals and the community at large. In a bid to obtain such information, a lot of literature will be studied and reviewed and all that will be presented will be pegged on facts and data that have been presented by different researchers.

The term disaster is a Latin derivative involving the terms dis and astrum, which mean against and stars respectively, thus "the stars are evil" (Farber 1967). The definition of disaster can be in terms of a physical driving force and its consequences (Dynes 1974) and viewed as a life threatening situation, abrupt destruction, injury, and loss of property and life. A number of these conceptualizations of disaster lay emphasis on the component of social disturbance that frequently come hand in hand with such situations.

In history, the origin of research purposed for psychologically focused disaster can be traced to psychoanalytic studies which were carried out in response to the severe stress during and subsequent to the Second World War which mainly affected the soldiers and survivors in the concentration camps. From that time on this field has experienced significant expansion with similar researches being done on almost all disasters that take place. The findings from all these researches have indicated that there are significant psychological effects that individuals suffer in relation to the disasters that they experience or those close to them go through. There are a number of difficulties that limit the ability to generalize about psychological effects of disaster; these comprise issues such the differences in the methodologies used, instruments, time frames, definition of populations, and samples. There has been a lot of improvement in the research into the effects of disaster over the past years even though differences in methodologies and conceptualizations still exist.

There are a number of factors that have led to this situation, first and foremost are that a number of clinicians and behavioral scientists have carried out studies concerning disasters and have come up with concepts regarding potential effects of disaster in many varied ways, most of which are not psycho-pathologically associated. Primary investigators of disaster effects, such as community and social psychologists and sociologists, have not expected or evaluated critical forms of mental disorders as aftermath of these events. Somewhat, common indications of psychological distress and mild "problems of living" have been examined. Conversely, clinicians have had the tendency of seeing the worst and have been the ones describing the nature and quality of more serious reactions to catastrophic events.

The purpose of this report is to address the assessment of the effects of disasters and the possible solutions to such problems, the specific focus is on the psychological effects on the people who face these disasters and how the individuals can be assisted to come out of the situation and to cope with the situations that they face. The study will focus on various groups of people having different positions in the family such as the parents and the children.

Background

Most of the previous researches have concentrated on studying the psychological effects of disaster on the minority groups, the memory of children, and on the parents. This paper will look into the last two categories since they are the most crucial and studying them will cover the whole population. This will cover the different reactions that they have for disasters and the possible remedies to the problems that they undergo after a disaster.

Effects on adults

There are researchers who have had particular interest on the psychological effects of disasters on adults thus a number of studies have been carried out to find out the facts about this. It has to be noted that there is not much difference on the effects that disasters have on children and adults, the variation mostly comes in the extent to which such reactions take place. In a study carried out by Parker et al. (2006) assessing adult memory for Hurricane Andrew came up with a number of results consistent with these facts. In the assessment, the adult memory was evaluated as a function of stress and results compared to a previous study which dealt with the memory of children for the same event carried out by Bahrick et al. (1998). The study assessed the recall of a natural disaster, an intricate event that was comprehensive in time.

The parallel study of children's recall which was carried out at the same time with the study showed that the recall of Hurricane Andrew by preschoolers had a U-shaped curve, with the highest recall recorded at moderate levels of stress (Bahrick et al. 1998). It was therefore of interest to find out whether their mothers exhibited a comparable quadratic function that relates stress and recall. Memory of different parts of the event was also examined, such as the hurricane preparations, the hurricane itself, and its consequences, centrality of content, and memory test type, i.e. free recall against prompted, as a function of the experienced stress and these results were compared to that obtained from the children.

The findings showed that the overall recall of mothers of the hurricane revealed a quadratic relation with stress. There was an increase in recall from low to moderate levels of storm severity and then remained steady from moderate to high storm severity. This observation remained the same even after adjustment of recall for the covariates of retention and rehearsal interval. Likewise, their children's recall indicated a quadratic relation with stress and exhibited a major rise from low to moderate levels of storm severity. Conversely, the children exhibited a major drop from moderate to high levels of storm severity. Mothers also demonstrated quadratic patterns in relation to stress and recall for varied parts of the event. Though, memories of the preparation stage of the hurricane remained even and displayed no difference as a function of stress. In the preparation phase, mothers of all stress levels would have gone through the event as equally stressful given that it was not known that the storm would bring any serious disaster. The evaluation of the quadratic relation between recall and stress and the failure to observe a major drop in recall from moderate to high storm severity were done in context of natural differences in the extent and quantity of recallable material for individuals who experienced moderated against high storm severity.

For those individuals who experienced high storm severity tolerated a hurricane consequence that was extensively longer and had a considerably greater number of days without essential services such as phone service, electricity among others. Additionally, it had an extended storm with more events related to hurricane during the storm. There was also more evidence of rehearsal at the high level of storm severity. These likely confounds would result to one expecting the memory for individuals who went through high storm severity to be greater than for those who experienced low or moderate storm severity, given the larger amount of possibly recallable material in both the hurricane and the resulting periods.

Nevertheless, neither this greater amount of potential information nor the greater amount of rehearsal at high levels of stress translated into increased recall for the mothers in the high storm severity situation. To a certain extent, these factors may have recompensed for what would otherwise be a reduction in recall at the high stress level. This indicates that mothers, similar to their children, may face some impairment in recall due to high stress. It appears that for mothers, their recall of emotional content faced more impairment from high stress than from any other content. It has however not been determined whether high stress really caused memory impairment or unwillingness to report memories. Largely, there are clear parallels between the recall patterns exhibited by adults and children. Data for both groups showed greater recall of peripheral than central information, prompted than spontaneous information, descriptions than internal states, and actions than descriptions. It has to be noted however that as much as the recall of adults and children were parallel, adults recall a great deal more information about the disaster than children.

Generally, it has been found that going through severe trauma and the resulting stress and desolation can generate a number of various reactions psychologically in adults, these may range from brief, stressful adjustments to serious mental health worries. Various researchers have reported that most individuals experiencing trauma from disasters will be understandably stressed but pliant (Acierno, et al., (2002). Despite that, there have been observations of increase in the prevalence of mental health issues following disasters with a concomitant reduction in the access to and the use of mental health and medical services which is a little troubling. In addition, displacement and evacuation also tend to be related with poorer outcomes for adults, over and above having concomitant financial, residential, transportation, and social support difficulties. Some adults have also indicated long-standing mental health difficulties following a disaster.

Possible resolutions

Whenever pediatric healthcare professionals are responding to disasters, it is important to remember that in spite of the pandemonium, a lot of the stress reactions of children and families exhibited are usual reactions to an incredibly unusual circumstance. Dealing with psychosocial outcomes resulting from disaster needs a very solicitous and all-inclusive plan of care to reduce the adverse impact of disaster on victims from a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral perspective. This is mainly true for children in a case where they were separated from their families as a result of a disaster. There should familiarity among the nurses and healthcare professionals acting in response to disasters with regard to special needs of children in such adverse situations, which should include the essential assessment strategies and involvements based on developmental level, age, and cognitive development (Plum & Veenema 2003). Pediatric healthcare professionals should aggressively hunt for children and families who have experienced disasters to make them aware of available services. The foremost effect of a disaster on children is the disturbance of their lives through loss and injury, or destruction of relevant structures such as schools, home and the neighborhood. This results to a loss of consistency, predictability, and structure which distresses children of all ages and developmental levels.

There are particular interventions that can be employed by pediatric healthcare professionals in helping children of all ages. The most important factor is the availability of parents who are necessary in providing emotional support required to take care of the children. In order to help parents marshal resources needed to give the necessary care, educational support should be provided which includes teaching parents and other caretakers about general behaviors that might be exhibited by children and adolescents. In case where mental support is required, such individuals should be referred to qualified mental health clinical nurse specialists, psychologists, nurse practitioners, or child-life experts. There are certain organizations that offer such assistance an example being the American Red Cross that will provide such services when set out to assist in disaster stricken areas. With the help of an experienced mental health professional, children and parents can understand and cope with feelings, thoughts, and habits that come due to such misfortune by offering constructive means of handling the inconceivable emotional impact. Families and healthcare professionals should ensure that adults spend much time with children, giving them a chance to be more dependent on adults for as long as is necessary in the aftermath of the disaster.

The other important groups during such periods are social support networks (Murray 200). These networks which comprise of friends, family, healthcare professionals, members of the clergy, and volunteers during the rescue process can have a lot of influence in intervening in the aftermath of a disaster (Plum & Veenema 2003). The most important intervention for infants is the provision of basic needs and making sure that familiar caretakers are available for the child. Ensuring that the needs of the parents are dealt with will also make certain that a parent is available for the infant and can provide emotional and physical care appropriately. Toddlers highly value re-establishing and maintaining a humdrum schedule for activities, for instance playing, sleeping, and eating. All these interventions can e of assistance in restoring a sense of safekeeping and normalcy. In the event, particularly when the child shows problems with sleeping, parents should be in a position to accommodate them while at the same time trying to establish a schedule as much as possible. Making use of materials such as night lights, favorite stuffed animals are encouraged, additionally, relaxing and comfort intercessions such as storytelling, singing, or music can be helpful.

Making sure that parents are available for preschoolers is very necessary in alleviating gratuitous fears of separation. Younger children have no understanding of what has taken place and will neither understand the consequences therefore it is required that they receive ample reassurances of being safe and protection. Encouraging regression on behaviors that had been outgrown on a temporarily will aid with coping. In order to minimize stress, non-verbal activities can be engaged and the provision of means of sharing thoughts is also vital. For the school-age children, it is critical to offer them reassurance and opportunities to express their emotions and feelings, this is because their stage of development is cognitive they may have a feeling that in some way they have a hand in the disaster and the upcoming challenges that are faced by the family. Since it is common for many children to shun from talking about what happened, using expressive therapy such as drawing, play, puppets etc. may be of help in facilitating their expression of feelings. Another precious step to take is that of looking for a child within the same age bracket with whom the child can be free to share his or her concerns, anger, and fears. For cases where the children are residing in a shelter, groups of children may gather to share their feelings and this will help them understand disaster and get to know that they are not alone thus enabling them to better cope with the consequences of the disaster. It is also important to give adolescents opportunities to share their stories with fellow teens or with adults. It is of much significance to keep all ways of communication available and accessible.

Summarily, it can be mentioned that it is crucial for psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health professionals to apply various effective treatments to victims of disaster-related disorders. Administering treatments such as therapy for an individual, group, family or couples can be of great assistance. Psychiatric medication can also bring relief for the depression symptoms, sleep disturbances, and anxiety thus it is significant that a psychologist or other mental health professional evaluates unrelenting symptoms and come up with a comprehensive program for the treatment. As a friend, coworker, or a family member should be an active listener and supportive to victims of disaster disorders. One should learn to listen non-judgmentally and patiently as the victims narrate their story and offer advises that discourage damaging ways of coping with stress such as excessive use of drugs and alcohol.

Implications

In the present day, a lot of disasters are reported almost every other day all over the world which means that more and more people are faced with disaster everyday, the latest serious case being the Haiti earthquake. It is evident from the above findings that disaster has very serious psychological effects on the victims and that trauma attacks the lives of nations, communities and individuals today more frequently and by measures that are extremely destructive and terrifying than in the past, not just for children, but for adults as well and the entire community. There is a feeling of deep fear and anxiety among children of all ages and adults which comes after a major trauma or psychological disorder. In the current society, no one can claim to be truly "safe" since trauma has transmuted into a more invasive, powerful, and destructive strain than was experienced in the past. One simply needs a glowing memory of media images of Oklahoma City, September 11th, or Columbine High School to be reminded of the catastrophic impact trauma brings to children, adults, and the community (Pfefferbaum 1999). The questions that are always asked relate to the need of individuals after experiencing major trauma and how counselors can be of help in handling such needs.

The initial impact of trauma generates four messages to a trauma survivor and the community. It notifies the survivor that the world is no longer secure, kind, conventional, and trustworthy. Each of these features has been cart off, or at the very least has been infringed and/or destroyed during the traumatic experience. Trauma, considering its basic description, is dangerous, destructive, and unpredictable. The loss of these four components or element is more devastating in children than in adults. Psychological disorders practically rob children of a right to innocence that belongs to all children. This innocence is impulsively taken away against the will of the child and will never be regained thus the child's "world" is never ever the same. The counselor can commence handling these pressing needs of a trauma survivor by developing a "counseling environment" of safety, predictability, kindness, and trustworthiness. To some extent, a fresh therapeutic "world" is shaped that once more has, to some extent, features of the victim's world preceding the destructive trauma. Significant in shaping this counseling environment is the representation of these features by the therapist. With these features missing, the effectiveness of the counseling relationship will not be achieved, each is vital for success.

On top of these dominant messages, trauma also generates three undesirable effects into the survivor's life. The first undesirable effect is that of silence which initially develops from the shock experienced by the trauma survivor. Though, once the preliminary shock of the trauma has started to diminish, the trauma survivor has a belief that there are truly no words that can convincingly illustrate the trauma experienced. The second undesirable element that is generated in the life of a trauma survivor is the sense of isolation, most commonly emotional isolation and at times even physical isolation. The survivor may also have to practice living alone in a case where a loved one who shared the survivor's life has been lost. The survivor has a deep belief that no one could have the understanding of the depth of the disaster that was experienced and survived. The last undesirable effect experienced by a survivor is the sense of helplessness with a feeling that nothing could be done to avert or end the trauma.

The outcome of all these is that the community will face a big task of trying to reconstruct its image both structurally and in terms of manpower. Many individuals within the community will have a reduced production capacity while others may totally lose their production capabilities. This will translate to the overall reduction in the production capacity of the community and the nation at large. Given that victims of such disasters cannot be ignored without offering any help to them, it will mean that a nation has to spend heavily in trying to recreate the destroyed regions and bring up the morale of the individuals. This will be a burdening task given that the disasters also lead to a reduction in the production capacity of the nations which means low income for the government. It is noted that the definitive economic implication of a disaster depends on the disposition of assets that have been damaged. Some of these assets are never replaced thus their loss leads to a reduction in consumption and a subsequent decrease in the quality of life or a reduction in investment and, thus, a drop off in economic productivity. Other assets are substituted either by in-kind donations such as food and clothing or viable purchases. In the second instance, the cost of substitution must come from some source of recovery funding, which commonly can be characterized as either inter-temporal transfers to the present time from past savings or potential loan payments or interpersonal transfers from one group to another at a specified time. Some of the specific methods for financing recovery include obtaining tax deductions or deferrals, insurance payoffs, unemployment benefits, loans - paying back the principal at low or even no interest grants with no return of principal, or additional employment. All these financial undertakings usually affect the victims greatly since it is a deviation from their normal and planned life, thus, it takes a very long time for them to recover.

It is also common that individuals who suffer psychologically from either disaster or any form of abuse tend to change in terms of behavior. This is especially common in children when they grow up. Such behaviors as violence, aggression and crime have been reported in individuals who suffered trauma at their childhood. It therefore means that disasters may end up developing a society with individuals of undesirable characters without other realizing or understanding why this is so. Eventually, communities, nations, and individuals will be forced to invest heavily in assisting these victims or be ready to face the negative impacts of the psychological problems they undergo, implying that whenever a disaster occurs, problems will not end just after the rescue mission of the victims and structural reconstruction, but will continue in helping the survivors. In fact, it has been found from research that the survivors are never satisfied just by the material assistance that is given to them, they still remain complaining and most people do not understand the reason behind it all.

The other implication that has been ignored by many researchers but is real is the political implication of disasters which is also psychologically related. There is considerable indication that disaster impacts can lead to social activism leading to political disturbance, especially during the apparently interminable period of disaster healing (Bates & Peacock, 1987). The disaster healing period is the starting place of many victim grievances and this creates many openings for community conflict. Victims more often than not attempt to reconstruct pre-impact housing patterns, however it can be challenging for their neighbors if victims try to site itinerant homes on their own lots while waiting the rebuilding of permanent housing. Conflicts start since such housing habitually is considered to be a disfigurement on the neighborhood and neighbors fear that the "temporary" housing will end up being permanent.

Exceptions to this generalization exist since a number of ethnic groups have very close ties to their neighborhoods and would usually welcome them in case of a disaster. Victims frequently experience a drop off in the quality of life related with their housing, with the subsequent complaints being most recurrent. First, accessibility is a crisis because there are inadequate numbers of housing units and hindrance in movement from momentary shelter to temporary housing and on to permanent housing. Second, site features are a problem because temporary shelter and temporary housing are mostly far from work, shopping, school and preferred neighbors. Third, construction characteristics are a problem because of lack of affordability, insufficient size, pitiable quality, and designs that are mismatched with personal or cultural preferences. Fourth, circumstances of allotment are a problem because recovery agencies force financial conditions, reporting necessities, and onsite inspections. All of these protests can lead to political implications by mobilizing victim groups, more than ever if victims with grievances share identity such as age, ethnicity, or a history of past activism (Tierney, et al. 2001).

Conclusion

There is no doubt that disasters have a great effect on those who are caught in it, however, focus has always been put on the material and physical loss of the victims than their psychological needs. Most rescue and assistance programs have been geared towards helping the victims to regain their material status by offering such things as building houses, giving basic necessities and basic services such as health care. Given that a lot of research that have been carried out, in fact almost all, reveal that there is paramount evidence of psychological effects suffered by the victims of such disaster, it is crucial that attention is given to the psychological needs of the victims at a higher level than before.

It is important to note that what is vital in the life of individuals who have suffered psychologically from disaster is not the magnitude of the suffering itself, but more important, who they end up being in relation to that pain. It is the response to the psychological suffering that establishes the life-long impact that the survivor gets from the trauma. The critical factor to recovery of the survivor is not the nature of the psychological effect rather it is the response to the effect. It is important for the helper to remember two major factors relating to the process of healing from such psychological effects. The first is that the healing process will take unexpectedly long, and second, it will perhaps be much more hard than expected. It is of the essence that the helper keeps this in mind as the healing process develops otherwise there will be a temptation to give up easily or develop impatience.