Coping With Disaster
"BEING THE VICTIM OF A NATURAL DISASTER is not a single point in time; it is an ongoing condition that goes on for months and even years after the disaster," reports psychologist Lennis Echterling of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, who studied survivors of the devastating Johnstown, West Virginia, flood of 1985. "The survivors of the flood have had to cope with constant reminders, economic hardships, and losses that continue even today. After a natural disaster, survivors do not go to psychologists or other professionals for help. We have to go to them. When survivors do seek out emotional help, they usually turn to their relatives, neighbors, friends, or clergy. We need programs that meet the long-term needs and delayed reactions of disaster victims. We now do a good job offering intensive short-term intervention, but the funding for disaster programs is limited to one year. Beyond that point, the services dry up."
PHOTO: The condition of a home and a car after a flood. (AP/WIDE WORLD)
