NSF PR 97-42 - June 4, 1997
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Reactions Following Disasters Don't Fit Stereotypes
Typical news reports, documentaries or movies about
the aftermath of disasters, such as the recent tornadoes
in Texas and floods in North Dakota, portray survivors
progressing through predictable stages of emotions.
These start with distress, then, ultimately, acceptance
and recovery.
A National Science Foundation (NSF) -supported study
reveals that this pattern is more stereotype than
norm. In fact, emotions may run both positive and
negative in the same person. The more likely individuals
are bolstered by early support from family, friends,
co-workers or other assistance groups, the better
they cope over time, according to researchers.
Psychologists Roxane Cohen Silver and Alison Holman
at the University of California at Irvine interviewed
85 people within 36 hours of returning to their homes
after being victimized by the 1993 fire storm that
struck California's Laguna Beach and Malibu. The researchers
checked back with the same people several times over
two years to track their emotional recovery.
The researchers found that, contrary to what is usually
portrayed in the news, not everyone feels great distress
after enduring a catastrophic event. It is also true
that not everyone recovers.
"The news media almost never convey positive emotions
among survivors following a disaster, yet we found
positive emotions of equal frequency and intensity
as negative ones," Silver says. Media overemphasis
on the negative has led the public to expect only
to see anxiety, anger and depression, ignoring the
alternatives, she explained.
The widespread presence of positive emotions in the
immediate aftermath of trauma may be a sign of a critical
coping mechanism in humans, say the experts. However,
coping depends on available support. The more social
support survivors receive immediately after a disaster,
the less likely they are to experience distress later
on.
"Friends, family, neighbors and coworkers need to
make themselves available to listen and convey genuine
concern and attention, early and often," Silver says.
Support is especially important in the first few weeks,
when survivors are likely to be irritable and tense
at home or at work. They will need a lot of patience
and understanding from others, the researchers' study
reveals.
Immediately after a disaster, survivors can also experience
a condition called "temporal disintegration," in which
they are able to focus only on the present and lose
their sense of past and future. Numerous factors in
a person's life can contribute to how soon and how
well they move beyond this condition.
Some never do.
As part of the NSF-funded study, Holman asked disaster
survivors what things they had taken or wished they
had taken with them when evacuating their homes. Responses
ranged from the practical to the personal.
"People who reported that they took memorabilia -
photo albums or heirlooms - tended to have a greater
loss of continuity in their lives and a harder time
overcoming the trauma of the event," says Holman.
It may be, the researchers conclude, that people who
link their lives closely with lost possessions feel
their identities are threatened when disaster strikes.
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