Additionally, we identified studies by hand searching reference lists and contacting researchers. Therefore, we chose to also include COVID-19-related studies within this systematic review. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Kendall Ertel, an undergraduate student at Yale University, and Reuma Gadassi Polack, postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, contributed to this post. The findings from this study have vast implications for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why do natural disasters cause PTSD?
Known as the “protective factor model,” resilience has been found to influence the effect of a risk factor by mediating the adverse impact of risk for predicting negative outcomes (19, 20). Burnout is often driven by long periods of stress without time to recover — but practicing self-care and creating work/life boundaries can help Even small moments of time outdoors can help reduce stress, boost mood and restore a sense of calm Practicing mindfulness, building healthy relationships, establishing boundaries and seeking therapy can all help Your child may find comfort in hearing about people coming together to help in a time of need. Or that nobody got hurt in the severe weather event they’re seeing on the TV.
Risk factors
Without sustained emotional support, people and communities face heightened risks of prolonged trauma and stalled recovery. At this time, they are only beginning the process of dealing with the physical, emotional, and social impact of injury, loss, and exposure to traumatic stress engendered by the event. Many people directly experience the event and many more witness or are indirectly affected by the disaster.
- Demographic risk factors for adjustment problems and psychopathology following disaster events include poverty or low socioeconomic status, little previous experience in coping with these types of events, prior exposures to highly stressful experiences, prior history of mental disorders, and being aged 40 to 60, a woman, or non-white.
- The few weeks after a disaster are characterized by heightened emotions within the community.
- Resiliency Engagement and Care in Health (REaCH) is a 4-week psychosocial intervention for people with socioeconomic vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Traumatic experiences undermine a person’s sense of safety in the world and create a sense that catastrophe could strike at any time.
Figure 6. Point effect estimates of the mental health disorders after earthquake exposure across four countries.
The strategies were effective and have helped the victims to overcome the trauma as soon as possible. Different techniques were responsible for different individuals and communities, depending on the personal resilience and social system resilience. The second was the high-level psychological intervention which worked with emotions, characteristics, economic change and other factors. Along with the psychological domain, the physiological domain required a lot of balance and the relaxation techniques have helped the individuals to balance and regulate their body in a proper way.
For example, in a longitudinal study, Pietrzak and colleagues examined the course of PTSD, depression, and anxiety following Hurricane Ike at three post-hurricane time points . https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2025-us-tornadoes-and-severe-storms/ Even though most of the work in the disaster mental health field has relied on cross-sectional assessments, several longitudinal and sequential cross-sectional studies were conducted in more recent times to document the course of well-being outcome over time 19,107,131,132,133. A feeling of uncertainty, which is a central feature of disaster experience (e.g., housing adversity, job insecurity, or insurance-related distress), can lead to increased anxiety levels after a disaster .
