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pece_annotation_1475447106

ciera.williams

The main theme of this article is the conditions leading up to, during, and following a policy passed in France in 1998. The policy allowed residency to "any foreigner habitually resident in France and suffering from a serious medical condition requiring medical treatment, and for whom deportation would result in exceptionally serious consequences, provided that he or she would be unable to receive appropriate treatment in the country to which he or she is returned" The author likens the poicy to "compassion protocol" or palliative care. The law should only apply in extreme circumstances and is based on an emotional response to pain/suffering. 

This policy had good intentions, but led to a number of resulting issues, such as disparity in care due to ambiguity in the law. For the enforcers of the law, there was much interpretation which allowed for individuals to exercise "humanitarian reason" and decide what conditions were a "serious medical condition" and what was not. This politicized medical care for foreigners/immigrants, as medical proffessionals no longer diagnosed based on symptoms, but socioeconomic status as well. 

pece_annotation_1476931956

ciera.williams

This article presents some statistics on common psychological issues post- disaster. PTSD and Major Depression are the two most commonly studied issues in realtion to post-disaster. A realtively new term "resilience" has been brought to the table, defining the ability of people to "bounce-back" after disasters. Substance abuse is another studied issue, with some reporting an increase in substance use following disasters. However, it is noted that the post-disaster abuse of substances is highest in those already using or abusing these ubstances. Other conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, and other stress disorders are studied and have links to disaster experience.

The article also discusses some risk factors for post-disaster psychological disorders. Prior to disasters, women tend to be less resilient, and more suscpetible to disorders, excepting substance abuse. Children are especially vulnerable to issues. Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and community support are also factors in the outcome of a person's mental state post-disaster. During a disaster, the degree of exposure to the incident is the greatest factor in outcome. After a disaster, support network and ongoing life stressors play a large rold in the outcome. The biggests steps to preventing poor outcome post-disaster are prepartion and anticipation of the disaster, and recognition/prevention of mental illness. 

Generally, only a small percentage of victims seek help from services provided for mental health disorders. This makes it difficult to accurately research the affects and prevalence of mental health disorders. 

pece_annotation_1473103443

josh.correira

The author is Sonja D. Schmid who is a professor of Science and Technology in Society at Virginia Tech. Her area of expertise is the social aspect of science and technology, esp. during the Cold War, as well as science and technology policy, science and democracy, qualitative studies of risk, energy policy, and nuclear emergency response. As a professor and researcher she has does relevant studies on Fukushima and nuclear disasters relevant to the DSTS network. One such article titled "The unbearable ambiguity of knowing: making sense of Fukushima" is cited below:

Schmid, Sonja D. "The Unbearable Ambiguity of Knowing: Making Sense of Fukushima." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. N.p., 2013. Web.