What are the consequences of disaster?? Need an answer for atleast 2-3 pages as I have to complete my project file
Answers
Answer: This may help you
Explanation:
Every year, millions of people are affected by both human-caused and natural disasters. Disasters may be explosions, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, or fires. In a disaster, you face the danger of death or physical injury. You may also lose your home, possessions, and community. Such stressors place you at risk for emotional and physical health problems.
Stress reactions after a disaster look very much like the common reactions seen after any type of trauma. Disasters can cause a full range of mental and physical reactions. You may also react to problems that occur after the event, as well as to triggers or reminders of the trauma.
Risk Factors
A number of factors make it more likely that someone will have more severe or longer- lasting stress reactions after disasters:
Severity of exposure
The amount of exposure to the disaster is highly related to risk of future mental problems. At highest risk are those that go through the disaster themselves. Next are those in close contact with victims. At lower risk of lasting impact are those who only had indirect exposure, such as news of the severe damage. Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most often to mental health problems. Studies have looked at severe natural disasters, such as the Armenian earthquake, mudslides in Mexico, and Hurricane Andrew in the US. The findings show that at least half of these survivors suffer from distress or mental health problems that need clinical care.
Natural disasters can be categorized as "acute" or "slow" in their onset. They are predictable because they cluster in geographic areas. Natural hazards are unpreventable and, for the most part, uncontrollable. Even if quick recovery occurs, natural disasters can have longterm effects. Natural disasters with acute onsets include events such as earthquake, flood, hurricane or typhoon, tornado, fire, tsunami or storm surge, avalanche, volcanic eruption, extreme cold or blizzard, and heat wave. Natural hazards with a slow or gradual onset include drought, famine, desertification, deforestation, and pest infestation.
It has become clear that disasters have a negative impact on mental health. To date, virtually all studies using control groups have found that disaster exposed individuals fare more poorly than their non-exposed peers, at least in the short run. Negative effects have also been shown with regard to general health and the use of services in the community. Risk factors for negative responses to these events have also been well-studied. The present report briefly summarizes this literature, as well as the literature addressing the impact of these events over time in adults and children. The review will focus on studies which have examined the impact of these events for at least a year. While this is actually a short follow-up, compared to, for example, the events of World War II, it likely captures more chronic, as opposed to acute, effects. Next, I will note the importance of the context in which the event occurs, and that disasters in some areas may be more devastating than the same type of event in a different region. My and my colleagues’ work in the Buffalo Creek disaster, including two second decade follow-ups, will be briefly described, and some beginning hypotheses about the shift in risk for negative outcomes over time, depending on one’s subgroup, will be offered. Finally, I will suggest areas where research is needed to better understand the impact of these events on mental health over time.