Psychological Effects in the Immediate Aftermath of the Tsunami Disaster – A Kerala Experience

Authors

  • Harish M Tharayil Professor, Government Medical College, Kozhikkode.
  • AM Fazal Mohamed Associate professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Pushpagiri Medical College, Tiruvalla.
  • CT Sudhir Kumar Research and Development Centre, Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India, Kochi.
  • G Mohan Roy Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
  • Varghese P Punnoose Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Kottayam.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30834/KJP.28.2.2015.34

Abstract

The tsunami waves wreaked havoc in coastal areas of the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in December 2004. Our team was involved in the care of those displaced to nearby hospitals and relief camps in the immediate few days following the disaster in Alappuzha district. This paper describes details of cases referred to psychiatrists by other doctors in those days. Out of the 43 cases referred for evaluation, 37 (86%) had a psychiatric diagnosis. 27 (60%) met the criteria for Acute Stress Disorder , (ASD). Some suffered from exacerbation of pre-existing disorders.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Wikipedia. [Internet] [cited 3rd September 2015] Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami.

World Health Organization. Psychological consequences of disaster – Prevention and management. Geneva: WHO; 1991.

Rubonis AV, Bickman L. Psychological impairment in the wake of disaster: the disaster – psychopathology relationship. Psychol Bull 1991; 109:384-99.

Barton A. Communities in disaster. New York: Basic books; 1969.

Green BL. Assessing levels of psychological impairment following disaster: consideration of actual and methodological dimensions. J Nerv Ment Dis 1982; 170(9):544-52.

Kar GC. Disaster and mental health. Ind J Psychiatry 2000; 42(1):3-13.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 4th Edition, (DSM – IV). New York: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.

Zigmund AS, Snaith RP. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1983; 67:361-70.

SnaithRP. The Hospital Anxiety And Depression Scale. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2003; Available from: http://www.hqlo.com/content/pdf/1477-7525-1-29.pdf

Beecham JC, Davidson JRT, March JS. Anxiety disorders: Traumatic stress disorders. In: Tasman A, Kay J, Lieberman JA, editors. Psychiatry. London: John Wiley and sons; 2003.

Lima BR, Chavez H, Samaniego N, Pompei MS, Pai S, Santacruz H, et al. Disaster severity and emotional disturbance: implications for primary mental health care in developing countries. Acta psychiatr Scand 1989; 79(1):74-82.

Van Kamp I, Van Der Velden PG, Stellato RK,Jan Roorda, van Loon J, Kleber RJ, et al. Physical and mental health shortly after a disaster: First results from the Enschede firework disaster study. Eur J Public Health 2006; 16(3):252-8.

Harvey AG, Bryant RA. Memory for ASD symptoms. A two year prospective study.J Nerv Ment Dis 2000; 170:602-7.

Downloads

Published

23-10-2015

How to Cite

.

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 2 (2015): July - December 2015

Section

Research Report

License

Copyright (c) 2015 Kerala Journal of Psychiatry

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC