when personal safety is threatened or wiped out during tropical storms it comes with a long term cost…. Sociologists in Florida State University… followed South Floridians who survived 1992's Hurricane Andrew and saw that some suffered mental distress problems many years later. Based on their studies researchers predict even more serious mental distress problems for those who lived through last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina. Researchers ...David Russell... John Taylor ... and Donald Lloyd ... told the Southern Sociological Society recently in New Orleans… that the emotional strains following Katrina … which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005… will increase people’s mental health ability for facing even ordinary events….
Their studies show why long term help may be more important than once realized…Deaths associated with Katrina…for instance… were more than 50 times greater than deaths from Andrew, and the total economic cost of Katrina will likely surpass $200 billion, well beyond the cost to rebuild lives after Andrew. "We believe that victims of Hurricane Katrina will be at an increased risk for mental health problems for many years to come," Russell said. "The extent of damage was widespread and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes and families. Those aspects of the storm mean that many people were exposed to some degree of adversity, and that puts them at greater risk for mental health problems both immediately and over a long period of time." I wonder what percentage of the people fare better when we step in to help them longer after a hurricane hits them….? Seems worth a try …. What do you think? In the meantime there are wonderful suggestions for maintaining a healthier brain today at Steve Gillman's blog. These include puzzle solving...jokes...and exercise... Thanks for the great tips Steve... these could be another step toward recovery of the brain... maybe even more important to some than recovering their possessions....
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