Search

First the article makes claims to research on populations affected primarily by natural disasters such as hurricanes and how the population was selected, as in were they directly affected by the disaster, lived near the disaster, or had relations to people affected by the disaster. The article then looked at the risk factors for each population at the different parts of the disaster (pre, peri, post) and the state of individuals at each of those times; were some already struggling with depression, would employment be effected, did they have kids to care for, ect. Lastly the article discussed what interventions emergency responders can take to reduce the risk of mental illness and supported those claims with statitics from the CBT about debriefs with victims and having counselors readily available, in person or virtually. 

The article's bibliography contains a variety of scholarly articles built from those doing research in the field. The article is well developed and well supported. 

This article primarily discusses the mental illnesses associated with disasters whether they be natural or instigated by humans. The article looks at mental illnesses themselves, such as PTSD, MDD, and substance abuse, and also the groups at risk for these mental illnesses. The article also breaks down the factors pre, peri, and post the disaster that can contribute to mental illness of victims, and what emergency response providers can do/provide in order to reduce these risks of mental illness. 

This article has been referenced and discussed in a variety of different articles pertaining to disaster recovery and psychopathology. 

Emily Goldmann, PhD, MPH is a current assistant research professor at NYU College of Global Public Health. Goldmann researches environmental and social determinants of mental health conditions. and has focused on surveillance of psychological distress, serious mental illness, and psychiatric hospitalization of New Yorkers following Hurricane Sandy.

Sandro Galea, MD, MPH is a canadian/american board-certified emergency physician. Dr. Galea is currently the Dean of BU School of Public Health and former Chair of the Department of Epidemiology of Columbia University's Mailman School of Global Public Health. He specifically researches social production of health within urban populations, and especially notes psychological and mental health disorder prevalence within vulnerable populations, including mood-anxiety disorders and substance abuse. 

Emergency response is not directly addressed, but this article does discuss mental health counselors and debriefing of victims as key components of emergency response to a disaster to decrease the number of individuals who may suffer from mental illness due to the disaster in the future. 

This article includes information gathered by research from the two authors themselves as well as their publications, but it also sites other articles that have been pulished by other researchers in the field. 

"These studies can help us understand what factors are associated with different courses of mental illness, which can help us identify the most vulnerable populations and inform tailored interventions"

"Exposure to potentially traumatic events is disaster-specific and often measured differently between studies, making it difficult to compare experiences and mental health consequences or to generalize findings to all disaster-affected populations (22). Additionally, most instruments that assess symptoms of mental disorder have been developed and validated in the United States (23, 48) and may lack cultural relevance and validity in areas impacted by disasters worldwide"

"Persons who live in a community where a disaster has occured may differ in their degree of exposure in the event. They may be affected directly, being present at the disaster site, or indirectly, having loved ones present at the disaster site or seeing images of the disaster in the media."