Natural disasters such as flooding which occur as a direct result of excessive rainfall creates a rather unique PTSD response in certain individuals wherein they continue to respond negatively to various external stimuli such as storms, videos of flooding or other such examples (Conklin, 1999). Victims of various floods within the Philippines, the 2011 Japan tsunami disaster as well as several flooding instances within the U.S. appear to develop a particular form of reluctance towards returning either to their homes where the flooding occurred or to large bodies of water (Conklin, 1999). It is assumed that such locations act as a trigger to their varied experience which range from nearly drowning, being swept away by fast moving currents or being stuck in a home with water rapidly rising to the upper levels where they are currently taking refuge. For example, in the case of Victim A (name protected as per the assignments instructions) when she was found she was in state of shock as direct result of stuck on a roof while flood waters surged around her. While the shock did initially wear off the apparent PTSD response in such individuals is an apparent state of withdrawal wherein they stare blankly off into space and shiver at times despite being given a warm blanket and any apparent source of cold air within the immediate area. When dealing with such individuals specific risk factors often include emotional outbursts, shaking and at time even depression (Conklin, 1999). The patient also showed distinct signs of mental trauma as a result of her experience and was initially unresponsive to initial attempts to alleviate the effects of her experience. Similar cases were actually noted during the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. wherein people trapped with rising flood waters on roofs or carrying pieces of drift wood were sometimes displaying similar symptoms as Victim A. On the other hand it must be noted that not all individuals who experience such events respond in the same way. Just as PTSD develops differently in various individuals (as seen in the case of returning U.S. soldiers from Iraq) several individuals who experience similar experiences to Victim A were noted as being completely fine after a few hours in a recovery center. Other cases were shown to gradually improve after a matter of days and in the case of Victim A notable improvement was seen within 4 days after the event. What must be understood in such cases is that the risk factors involved are directly related to continuing to bring up the subject of their experiences versus just letting them be alone for a while and then approach them (Miyazaki et al., 2006). It was noted in various individuals that experienced the same situation as Victim A that when interviewed by television crews while at the emergency center such individuals were actually seen as recovering slower from PTSD as compared to individuals who were cared for but relatively left alone for the time being. It can be assumed that by leaving such individuals alone this allows the mind to sort out the event and actually put up sufficient mental blocks so as to lessen the impact of the event on the person. As seen in the cases of people who were continuously interviewed, their emotional outburst coupled with the loss of property, friends, and loved ones resulted in detrimental recovery results. Various emergency agencies are actually well aware of the result of PTSD trauma and allowing the victim to recover from the ordeal in peace and as such usually prevent television crews from initially interviewing individuals that show greater trauma than others. Another risk factor that should be taken into consideration is the fact that older victims of flood related disasters tend to recover at a far slower rate as compared to people that are relatively younger (Miyazaki et al., 2006). While there have been no definitive studies examining the specific details behind the differing recovery rates of individuals who suffer from flood disasters it can be assumed that older individuals tended to feel more helpless and felt less secure about their future after the incident which causes instances of delayed recovery. It is based on this that before proper PTSD trauma responses can be utilized for particular victims of flood disasters it is important to take note of differing ages and the degree of aberrant external behavior before planning any form of psychological assistance in recovery.
Reference List
Conklin, J. C. (1999). For Disaster Survivors, a Storm Can Reignite Terror. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition. p. B1.
Miyazaki, T., Dewaraja, R., & Kawamura, N. (2006). Reliability and validity of the scales related to post traumatic stress disorder of Sri Lankan version. International Congress Series, 128782-85.