The Psychological Effects of Ecological Disasters Essay Example for Free

The Psychological Effects of Ecological Disasters Essay The highly advanced technologies emerging nowadays bring many conveniences today that seemed impossible fifty years ago. Yet, such improvements and developments are expected to bear different consequences. Ecological disaster, although a natural phenomenon, is a consequence of man-made hazard. According to Kessler, Sonnega, Bromet, Hughes, and Nelson (1995), majority of the population have experienced â€Å"at least one traumatic event throughout their lifetime†. Although the frequency of traumatic events is high, many people, especially the adults, are able to survive from different forms of disaster and are likely to recover from any traumatic event. However, there are some who are unable to cope with the trauma from such events, such as the children who are prone to resilience. It is indeed a traumatic and stressful experience to be present in any occurrence of an accident, calamity, or a tragedy. Victims of disaster are likely to demonstrate some stress and emotional reactions such as grief, anger, fear, depression, anxiety, and somatization. Other victims of ecological disaster are observed to manifest behavioral expressions of stress which include changes in illness behavior, problems in role functioning at home and in work, troubles of substance abuse, and domestic violence. Moreover, people who are suffering from severe mental illness (SMI) are more prone to experience Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD (Bromet Dew, 1995; Havenaar et al. , 1997). One of the most severe and traumatic disasters occurred on April 26, 1986 was the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which took place for almost 10 days. The explosion resulted in the enormous release of radioactive materials (e. g. iodine and caesium radionuclides) in the areas of Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Belarus. Such radioactive materials are known to cause thyroid cancer (The Chernobyl Forum, 2003-2005, p. 10). Approximately five million people living in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were contaminated with radionuclides. Most of them were emergency workers and on-site personnel including army, local police and fire services, and power plant staff. Some residents of the said areas were also affected. The disaster response actions of the authorities such as the evacuation of people from affected areas somehow reduced the health consequence of the radiation exposures. Aside from thyroid cancer which hit the affected population, there is a notable increased in psychological problems among the residents of affected areas. Such was the result of disturbance and trauma brought by the explosion. People experienced stress and anxiety because of the lack of information about the effects of such radiation and its consequences to social and economic security (The Chernobyl Forum, 2003-2005, p. 7). Until today, the concerned authorities are having difficulties in identifying and eliminating the psychological burden of the Chernobyl explosion. Meanwhile, many researches demonstrated that the occurrence of ecological disasters such as tragedy, terrorism event, traumatic accidents, and others could cause psychiatric disorders to human victims. Such disorders include depression, anxiety, somatization, ASD and PTSD. Accordingly, there are several factors that are believed to contribute to the cause of psychiatric disorder following the occurrence of ecological disaster. Some believe that the impact of psychological effects of disaster depends on the amount of information given to victims of traumatic events. Other researches identified that a victim with lower level of education is prone to experience psychiatric disorder after the occurrence of a disaster. In addition, people who experienced many negative events in life are more likely to manifest mental disorders brought by traumatic event. Meanwhile, other researches assert that people with positive and optimistic personalities are less vulnerable to psychiatric disorder. This research paper will delve into the psychological effects of ecological disasters and will highlight the various factors that affect victim’s psychological processing of Chernobyl explosion, particularly the residents of Former Soviet Union. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify and explore the factors that affect the mental processing of the victims of Chernobyl explosion. Respondents for this study are the affected residents from Former Soviet Union. The analysis for this study will dwell on whether Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and resilience can be predicted using variables such as participant’s age, gender, distance from disaster site, educational level, fewer life stressors, positive personality traits, and empowerment from having more information about the disaster. Moreover, the researcher will attempt to identify those victims who are likely to experience psychiatric disorder after experiencing ecological disaster and those who are not prone to such psychological disorder. It will also attempt to enumerate the different ways and treatments which will be useful in preventing the psychological effects of ecological disaster. Statement of the Problem Generally, this research study aims to examine the factors that affect the psychological processing of the victims of ecological disaster, particularly the victims of Chernobyl disaster from Former Soviet Union. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following problems: 1. What are the possible psychological effects of ecological disasters? 2. Who are the victims of disaster that are likely to experience psychological disorder? 3. Who are the victims of disaster that are likely to cope from experiencing disaster thus overcoming traumatic and stressful obstacles? 4. How do other victims manage to overcome psychiatric disorder following the occurrence of disaster? 5. Why do other victims fail to overcome psychiatric disorder following a traumatic event? 6. What can be done to manage and prevent (if possible) the psychological effects of ecological disaster? 7. Who are the proper authorities responsible for addressing the psychological problems brought by the occurrence of ecological disasters? Hypotheses There are various factors that make the victims of ecological disasters more susceptible to psychological disorder, and these factors are the subject of hypothesis for this study. According to researches, the possibility for victims to develop a psychological disorder depends on the personality of the victims, level of education of the victims; amount of information given to victims of disaster; and quantity of negative events experienced by the victims. Based on the studies conducted by Aspinwall and Taylor (1992) and Scheier and Carver (1995), it was discovered that having a positive personality or being optimistic can contribute to the victims’ physical and psychological well-being. In addition, Scheier and Carver’s (1995) study reveals that optimistic people believe that they could overcome any adversity. Thus, instead of avoiding the obstacles and challenges, optimistic people use problem-solving skills to cope with difficulties (Scheier Carver, 1995). Furthermore, numerous research studies have found that dispositional optimism (positive reason for migration, American acculturation, mastered of English language, and overall life satisfaction) could also lessen the impact of stress to the experience of an individual (Ben-Zur, Rappaport, Ammar, Uretzky, 2000; Herman-Stahl Petersen, 1996; Aspinwall Taylor, 1992). People who have positive outlook are likely to use health care services following the experience of any traumatic disaster. Still, there are factors that contribute to positive personality of individual such as demographic and social aspect, attitudinal-belief, and other structural variables (Anderson Newman, 1973). The researcher assumes that people with negative view of life and are pessimist are prone to experience psychiatric disorder following the occurrence of a disaster. Meanwhile, results of the research studies conducted by Breslau et al. (1997), Kessler et al. (1995), and Kulka et al. (1991) demonstrated that people with lesser educational attainment are more likely to experience PTSD such that lesser educational attainment is correlated with increased level of PTSD. Yet, there are inconsistent results from the empirical literature regarding the psychological and mental health of elderly adults. Majority of the literature review indicated that older people have a greater risk for physical injury and monetary loss, and have fewer social support, which then suggest that elderly are more vulnerable to experience stress. Thus, this group is at a higher psychological risk of developing psychological disorder in the face of disaster (Krause, 1987; Phifer Norris, 1989). Therefore, the researcher presumes that people with high educational attainment and younger population are likely to be resilient to post disaster stress and trauma. Many research studies established that the individual’s perception of risk following a disaster can cause poor health effects which is either physical or mental illness (Kazakov, Demidchik, Astakhova ,1992; Baverstock, Egloff, Pinchera, Ruchti Williams, 1992; Moysich, Menezes, Michalek, 2002). Yet, not all individuals have the same perception on the impact of hazard as according to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), perception on risks varies differently from one another. However, the level of stress caused by any traumatic event to an individual depends on how he or she perceived the risk of a disaster. To elucidate, the amount of information available for the victims of disaster affects his or her perception of risk (Renn Rohrmann, 2000). It is important to note that risk messages enclose factual, value-related, inferential, and symbolic meanings (Havenaar, Cwikel Bromet, 2002). In the case of Chernobyl explosion, limited information about the consequences of the explosion was disseminated to affected residents. Thus, people who have little information following radiation disasters like Chernobyl are likely to experience PSTD. In addition, the perception of the exposure has a significant impact on women, especially women with young children. The researcher then presumes that people who are less informed about the possible effects of disaster such as women and children are likely to suffer from psychological disorder. Other researchers established that victims who are exposed to the most intense features of the disaster are likely to develop the most severe stress reaction and are likely to experience poor mental health outcomes (Weiss, Marmar, Metzler Ronfeldt, 1995; Goenjian et al. , 2000). The degree of exposure significantly affects mental health outcomes. Individuals who are often exposed to high levels of stress in their everyday lives have a higher risk of experiencing mental disorders. Thus, the researcher assumes that individuals who are furthest from disaster sites are more resilient. Rationale for the Study The incidence of exposure to disaster is more frequent than expected. According to result of the research study conducted by Kessler et al. (1995), majority of the population have experienced a minimum of a single traumatic phenomenon in their lifetime. Epidemiological studies conducted by different researchers and specialists have found that approximately, three quarters of the majority population in the U. S. has experienced a single traumatic phenomenon in their life (Green, 1994). To elucidate, approximately one billion people have been affected by natural disasters within the past 25 years (Weisaeth, 1995). Moreover, in a national morbidity survey, researchers found that 60. 7 percent of adult men and 51. 2 percent of adult women in the United States have been involved to at least one traumatic event or an ecological disaster (Kessler et al. , 1995). Meanwhile, in North America, an estimated 17 million people are prone to a natural disaster each year (Meichenbaum Fitzpatrick, 1993). Furthermore, in a meta-review of psychosocial consequences of disasters, it was found that approximately 11% of individuals are suffering from minimal impairments, 50% from moderate impairments, while 21% and 18% are experiencing severe and very severe impairments respectively (Norris, Friedman, Watson, 2002). With these data, we could affirm that disasters are common events or phenomena. Since majority of the population are prone to experience traumatic events such as accidents, tragedy and other ecological disaster, it is important that people have enough understanding and are knowledgeable about the possible psychological or mental health consequences caused by these traumatic events.