After an Earthquake: Mental Health
Following a natural disaster, when many people have suffered great losses, it is normal to feel sad, angry, or nervous.
Some who have experienced a disaster may have bad feelings right away. Others may not notice a change until much later, after the crisis is over. It can take time to feel better and for things to return to normal, especially with so much loss. Many people find support and comfort by talking to surviving family members, close friends, doctors, nurses, and religious leaders. Sometimes, help from mental health professionals may be needed.
Medical follow up will be important for the health and wellbeing of many survivors. Survivors should be encouraged to share questions and concerns about their health with their doctors.
Links to CDC resources and those of other organizations are below. Survivor experiences and needs may differ, so some sites may be more helpful to some than others.
Information available in French, Haitian-Creole, and English:
•Mental Health Information for the Public
•Mental Health Information for Professionals
•Mental Health Advisory for Health Professionals Providing Care for Survivors of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake
•General Mental Health Resources
How to find mental health services in the U.S. by state and information for developing cultural competence in disaster mental health programs.
Care Tips for Survivors of a Traumatic Event: What to Expect in Your Personal, Family, Work, and Financial Life
Things to Remember When Trying to Understand Disaster Events
Signs that Adults Need Stress Management Assistance
Ways to Ease the Stress
Things to Remember When Trying to Understand Disaster Events
No one who sees a disaster is untouched by it.
It is normal to feel anxious about you and your family's safety.
Profound sadness, grief, and anger are normal reactions to an abnormal event.
Acknowledging our feelings helps us recover.
Focusing on our strengths and abilities will help you to heal.
Accepting help from community programs and resources is healthy.
We each have different needs and different ways of coping.
It is common to want to strike back at people who have caused great pain. However, nothing good is accomplished by hateful language or actions.
Signs that Adults Need Stress Management Assistance
Difficulty communicating thoughts
Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty maintaining balance
Easily frustrated
Increased use of drugs/alcohol
Limited attention span
Poor work performance
Headaches/stomach problems
Tunnel vision/muffled hearing
Colds or flu-like symptoms.
Disorientation or confusion
Difficulty concentrating
Reluctance to leave home
Depression, sadness
Feelings of hopelessness
Mood-swings
Crying easily
Overwhelming guilt and self-doubt
Fear of crowds, strangers, or being alone
Ways to Ease the Stress
Talk with someone about your feelings– anger, sorrow, and other emotions-- even though it may be difficult.
Don't hold yourself responsible for the disastrous event or be frustrated because you feel that you cannot help directly in the rescue work.
Take steps to promote your own physical and emotional healing by staying active in your daily life patterns or by adjusting them. This healthy outlook will help yourself and your family. (i.e. healthy eating, rest, exercise, relaxation, meditation.)
Maintain a normal household and daily routine, limiting demanding responsibilities of yourself and your family.
Spend time with family and friends.
Participate in memorials, rituals, and use of symbols as a way to express feelings.
Use existing supports groups of family, friends, and church.
Establish a family emergency plan. Feeling that there is something that you can do can be very comforting.
* When to Seek Help: If self help strategies are not helping or you find that you are using drugs/alcohol in order to cope, you may wish to seek outside or professional assistance with your stress symptoms.
Mental health advisory for health professionals providing care for survivors of the 2010 Haitian earthquake
Updated February 24, 2010
In the aftermath of disasters, many survivors will show acute reactions to stress. Reactions to stress may appear immediately after traumatic events or days and even weeks later. Although many reactions to stress may also be symptoms of psychiatric disorders if they persist, reactions to stress are expected responses to traumatic events in the context of disasters. Reactions to stress may be confusing and frightening, and some may view their reactions as signs of weakness or mental illness. Providing reassurance that it is very natural to have physical and emotional responses after a disaster can help to reduce distress and promote better functioning. Common reactions include:
•Physical Reactions: rapid heart rate, trembling hands, unexplained somatic symptoms (e.g., headaches, backaches, chest or abdominal pain), dizziness, blurry vision, sweating/trembling/shaking for no reason, sleep problems, loss of appetite, feeling choked or smothered
•Cognitive Reactions: problems concentrating or remembering things, confusion, disorientation
•Emotional Reactions: feeling tense and nervous, excessive fatigue, crying often or easily, feeling numb, being angry or irritable, feeling nervous or anxious around reminders of the earthquake, and nightmares/intrusive memories/mental images related to the earthquake
•Interpersonal Reactions: problems in relationships with family or friends, conflict, withdrawal, isolation
In evaluating patients, clinicians should keep in mind that some patients may present with signs and symptoms that appear to be reactions to stress but may also be manifestations of medical illness. Adverse reactions to medications or having recently stopped taking medications are other potential causes of physical or mental status changes that should be considered as part of a clinical evaluation.
Grief – Grief is normal and to be expected given the extensive loss of life that occurred after the earthquake; however sometimes grief can become so severe or persistent as to interfere with daily function to a degree that warrants clinical attention.
Long-Term Psychological Responses: The majority of people who experience reactions to stress after disasters and emergencies show resilience and do not go on to develop long-term psychopathology. However, in some survivors, the symptoms do not resolve. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, major depression, or other psychiatric disorders may develop. Such illnesses may be serious, even fatal, and warrant prompt follow up.
Depending on the severity of symptoms, level of function, potential risks, clinical questions, and/or other factors, referral to a mental health professional (and/or another health professional) may be warranted even in the absence of a psychiatric disorder.
Suicidal or homicidal ideation may occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders, and warrant immediate attention.
Alcohol and substance use may also increase suicide risk, as well as the risk of motor vehicle crashes and violence. Alcohol and substance use may increase following natural disasters.
Some examples of symptoms that may be indicative of PTSD include: dissociation (e.g., feeling unreal or outside oneself, having "blank" periods of time that one cannot remember); intrusive re-experiencing (e.g., disturbing memories, nightmares, or flashbacks); avoidance of reminders of the disaster (e.g., avoiding activities that remind one of the earthquake, withdrawing from other people); emotional numbing (e.g., unable to feel emotion, as if empty); hyper-arousal (e.g., startle responses, rage, extreme irritability, intense agitation). Diagnostic criteria for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders are included in the most recent edition of the DSM IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
Risk Factors: People who have experienced any of the following are more likely to experience long-term difficulties and may be at higher risk for developing psychopathology:
•Direct and indirect exposure to the earthquake and its impact, e.g., being injured in the earthquake, seeing injured or dead people, hearing people screaming
•Loss of loved ones or friends
•Exposure to prior traumas (e.g., disasters, sexual abuse, motor vehicle crashes, combat)
•Pre-existing mental health issues such as depression or anxiety disorders
•Social isolation
•Multiple relocations and displacements
•Loss of home, valued possessions, neighborhood, or community
•Recent or subsequent major life stressors or emotional strain (e.g., intense emotional demands, searching for survivors, interacting with bereaved family members)
•Extreme fatigue, weather exposure, hunger, or sleep deprivation
Cross-Cultural Issues: Clinicians should be aware that in Haitian culture, there is stigma associated with experiencing or disclosing behaviors associated with mental illness, and there are different culturally appropriate ways of expressing grief, pain, and loss. Haitian patients may be reluctant to discuss or admit to mental health problems, or may refer to stress and psychiatric symptoms in culturally-specific ways, e.g., referring to saisissement (rapid heartbeat and cool blood, due to trauma), and supernatural causes of symptoms, e.g., voudou and hexes. Any discussions of mental health or reactions to stress should be explained in culturally sensitive, supportive, and non-stigmatizing ways.
Children: Children’s immature abilities to understand and process the immediate and long-term effects of emergencies make them among the most vulnerable members of affected communities. Because of stigma in Haitian culture around mental illness, many children may be reluctant to discuss or admit to mental health problems. Likewise, prior caregivers in Haiti may not have fully explored such issues, even prior to the earthquake. Clinicians should consider potential mental health and developmental issues. Reactions to stress differ depending on developmental level and are generally marked by changes in typical behavior for the specific child or adolescent. Some children will warrant referral to a mental health professional.
Acknowledging Psychological Distress: Clinicians should be aware that many patients may be reluctant to acknowledge psychiatric symptoms or distress. Earthquake survivors may fear being stigmatized within their community or denied entrance to the United States, and aid workers and military personnel may fear being penalized professionally if they have psychiatric diagnoses noted on their medical records. Whenever mental health referrals are warranted, added care should be taken to explain and arrange such referrals to the patient and his/her caregivers in a culturally sensitive, supportive, and non-stigmatizing way.
Potential for Misattribution of Symptoms of Non-Psychiatric Medical Conditions to Psychological Distress – In the aftermath of the earthquake, some patients may experience symptoms of head injury, cardiovascular disease, infection, or other undiagnosed medical conditions which may present themselves through mental status changes. Health care providers examining patients who have survived the earthquake need to be alert to that possibility.
