Mental Illness in Mississippi Following Hurricane Katrina
When natural disasters strike, the initial news coverage and worries focus on the quantitative, material damage: photos of razed buildings, flooded homes, and victims discussing what they’ve lost. There is a hidden toll of natural disasters, however; one that has been particularly prevalent in the aftermath of Katrina. This is the toll of mental illness, in the form of depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality.
A Year Later
The first studies to measure mental illness levels in Katrina survivors came out about a year after the hurricane struck Mississippi. Directly following the hurricane, small scale studies and interviews by the Red Cross and the New York Times pointed to significant mental distress, but it took months for scientific samplings of survivors to be interviewed and evaluated on a psychological scale.
To conduct one study, scientists recruited hundreds of households across the hurricane path in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The survivors were asked questions about their stressors and the affect of the hurricane on their lives. The findings were significant: the number of residents with a serious mental illness nearly doubled after Katrina, from 6.1 to 11.3 percent. The trends stayed the same for those with moderate mental distress and those with any sort of mental illness. An astounding 31 percent of survivors (versus 16 percent before Katrina) were estimated to have some sort of mental illness.
Not surprisingly, the rates of mental illness weren’t equivalent across sociodemographic lines. Being unemployed before Katrina, being non-Hispanic white, and not being married were all correlated with higher rates of mental illness. Such differences point to the wide variety of worries individuals faced after the hurricane: loss of property, lack of shelter, lack of money, lack of work, and a general lack of support.
Years Later
A study published in January of 2008 revealed that the mental illnesses following Katrina were different in nature than those seen after most natural disasters. In general, mental illnesses following a natural disaster gradually taper off, returning to pre-disaster levels roughly 2 years later. After Katrina, however, research revealed that mental illnesses were actually becoming more prevalent, nearly 2 and a half years later.
The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, looked at surveys from 815 survivors. For serious mental illnesses, the prevalence had significantly increased, from 11 to 14 percent. The rate of suicidal thoughts and serious suicidal intentions had also more than doubled. For those living outside of the New Orleans area, rates of post traumatic stress disorder increased as well, from 15 to 24 percent.
The increase in PTSD outside of the New Orleans area suggests that there are other factors at work in Mississippi that are extending and increasing the stress brought by Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps the lack of media attention, the slow relief efforts, and the continually depressed economy have led Mississippians to experience longer lasting stress and anxiety.
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Sources:
Mental illness and suicidality after Katrina. (2006) Ronald C. Kessler, Sandro Galea, Russel T. Jones, & Holly A. Parker on behalf of the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group. The World Health Organization.
Mental Disorders Persist Among Hurricane Katrina Survivors. (2008) National Institute of Mental Health.