Future disaster management plans should anticipate both types of treatment needs. Many Hurricane Katrina survivors with mental disorders experienced unmet treatment needs, including frequent disruptions of existing care and widespread failure to initiate treatment for new-onset disorders. Treatment of new-onset cases was positively related to age and income, while continued treatment of preexisting cases was positively related to race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic whites) and having health insurance. The majority (64.5%) of respondents receiving treatment post-Katrina were treated by general medical providers and received medication but no psychotherapy. Reasons for failing to continue treatment among preexisting cases primarily involved structural barriers to treatment, while reasons for failing to seek treatment among new-onset cases primarily involved low perceived need for treatment. Among those respondents without preexisting mental disorders who developed new-onset disorders after the hurricane, 18.5% received some form of treatment for emotional problems. The survey assessed posthurricane treatment of emotional problems and barriers to treatment among respondents with preexisting mental disorders as well as those with new-onset disorders posthurricane.Īmong respondents with preexisting mental disorders who reported using mental health services in the year before the hurricane, 22.9% experienced reduction in or termination of treatment after Katrina. The authors examined the disruption of ongoing treatments among individuals with preexisting mental disorders and the failure to initiate treatment among individuals with new-onset mental disorders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.Įnglish-speaking adult Katrina survivors (N=1,043) responded to a telephone survey administered between January and March of 2006. The results are interpreted within a cognitive processing framework, and the study points out the importance of early assessment of posttraumatic stress symptoms, appraisal and coping responses in professional units exposed to fatal accidents in their line of duty Previous accidents, emotion focused coping, and avoidance symptoms at 2–3 weeks and 4 months explained 40% of the variance in PTSD-symptoms at 12 months. Trauma exposure, social role in the organization, and intrusion symptoms at 2–3 weeks, explained 36% of the variance in PTSD-symptoms at 4 months. PTSD symptoms at 2–3 weeks were associated with trauma exposure, social role in the organization, and avoidance focused coping. Examination of individual cases showed a stable low or declining trend in 77% participants, while 23% revealed a stable high or increasing trend in PTSD symptoms over time. PTSD symptoms were reduced after both units had received early psychosocial intervention and continued to perform their operational duties. The present study examined individual and contextual factors associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms in military personnel (N=122) at 2–3 weeks, 4 and 12 months following two fatal training accidents.
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