The Infinite Mind

Churches battling post-Katrina depression

"We always believe the word of God can help in all situations. But also there are times when people have psychological issues, and we need to make referrals."

By Russell McCulley  |  August 13, 2006

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - African-American ministers, accustomed to providing spiritual guidance to their congregations, are helping members cope with serious mental and emotional disorders nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina hit.

"It is, at times, overwhelming," said Rev. Larry Campbell, assistant pastor of Israelite Baptist Church in the Central City neighborhood. He has counseled worshipers with substance abuse problems and suicidal thoughts, referring some to mental health professionals, when possible.

"There's a sense of hopelessness as it relates to, 'When are we going to get this city back to where it was?"'

A church which collapsed in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina rests on street corner in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans on November 15, 2005. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

Post-Katrina depression triples New Orleans suicide rate

by Matthew Penix
07/03/2006

The annual suicide rate has increased from nine per 100,000 before the storm to more than 26 per 100,000 after Katrina.

Shauna James stood trembling in the kitchen before hanging up the phone. Her mind raced. Her body shivered. Was it true?

She finally slid down the wall to the tile floor where she huddled in a ball crying for more than an hour. A colleague, in deep depression after Hurricane Katrina, had taken his own life.

“I just don’t know what to say,” James said. “This world has messed with us all.” 

Her story reflects one of more than 30 suicides in the New Orleans area post-Katrina. Suicide rates have nearly tripled in the 11 months since the Crescent City levees broke, and experts say New Orleans is experiencing an epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress that crosses all socio-economic lines.

Dr. Jeffrey Rouse, the deputy New Orleans coroner dealing with psychiatric cases, estimates the annual suicide rate at less than nine per 100,000 residents before the storm. It’s since increased to more than 26 per 100,000, he said.

A Legacy of the Storm: Depression and Suicide

"New Orleans is experiencing what appears to be a near epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, one that mental health experts say is of an intensity rarely seen in this country. It is contributing to a suicide rate that state and local officials describe as close to triple what it was before Hurricane Katrina struck and the levees broke 10 months ago..."

Gina Barbe of New Orleans says she has been crying almost every day.

By SUSAN SAULNY

NEW ORLEANS, June 20 — Last Tuesday in the French Quarter, Sergeant Glaudi's small staff was challenged by a man who strode straight into the roaring currents of the Mississippi River, hoping to drown. As the water threatened to suck him under, the man used the last of his strength to fight the rescuers, refusing to be saved.

"He said he'd lost everything and didn't want to live anymore," Sergeant Glaudi said.

The man was counseled by the crisis unit after being pulled from the river against his will. Others have not been so lucky.

"These things come at me fast and furious," Sergeant Glaudi said. "People are just not able to handle the situation here."

NEW YORK TIMES

April 20, 2006

Storm Evacuees Strain Texas Hosts

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

HOUSTON, April 15 — To the long list of adjectives used to describe Texans since last summer's hurricanes — munificent, intrepid, scrappy — add one more: fed up.

The Infinite Mind's Katrina coverage wins pretigious National Headliner Award (read more).

Post-Katrina stress still weighs on New Orleans
Up to one in three survivors have untreated PTSD

Reuters
By Kim Dixon

Up to a third of those who lived through the death and destruction of Hurricane Katrina may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and cannot find treatment, mental health professionals said on Wednesday.

Katrina's aftermath tough on mental health 
New Orleans' coroner says hurricane-related stress ‘is a recipe for suicide’ - Associated Press

Holiday Blues Hitting Katrina Victims Hard 
- Associated Press

U.S. says 500,000 may need mental health support.
Suicide hotline calls more than double.

LA Governor: Katrina victims 'nearly forgotten'

(CNN) -- Nearly three months after Hurricane Katrina forced tens of thousands from their homes, bureaucracy is creating a new tide of trouble for victims of the storm.

"We feel like we are citizens of the United States who are nearly forgotten," said Democratic Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

"It is a very frustrating thing. People are weary. They want to move on ... It's going to take us a while. And we still need help from Washington."

"Mental Care: Katrina Fallout." The Infinite Mind on the editorial page.

"After the Hurricanes, the Inner Storm for Children," New York Times 9/27/05

New "Pediatrics" journal study finds children are "exceptionally vulnerable," and need "to have hope."

"Storms' Collateral Damage: Thousands at risk for long-term disorders; 2300 children missing or searching for families" - USA Today

"Despair among some Katrina survivors. Some say it's more difficult now than immediately after storm." - Associated Press 9/23/05

"Public health needs . . . very, very large" - Donna Shalala

"  ... Katrina added thousands more to the ranks of the poor and uninsured. The psychological stress and trauma of the past three weeks will lead to increased demand for mental health services. Many evacuees are newly impoverished and have chronic health care needs that will place additional, costly demands on the care systems in the areas to which they have located. Some 400,000 jobs have been lost; many who are out of work have lost not only their source of income but also their health insurance. Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacies and other facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Underserved populations that already had substantial health disparities are now at risk of falling even further behind the rest of America.

A national response to this health crisis is weeks overdue..."

- Donna Shalala, fomer secretary of Health and Human Services, Washington Post op-ed 

FEMA's criticized for limiting counseling to "normal" people, excluding those with mental illness.

"It is unconscionable -- literally and symbolically -- that the Crisis Counseling Program, by the  government's own description, provides counseling only to 'people responding normally in to abnormal situations." - National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"What Could Explain?" - John Hockenberry commentary for The Infinite Mind's "The Road to Recovery" (airing week of 9/14/05)

(Listen to John Hockenberry's commentary from The Infinite Mind)

(Read John Hockenberry's commentary from The Infinite Mind)

"You know, they bury their dead above ground in New Orleans.

They always have.   

This week on The Infinite Mind: "The Road to Recovery"

Listen to this this week's show

Free MP3 download or transcript of The Infinite Mind's "The Road to Recovery" (Click here to visit The Infinite Mind web store for free downloads)

Listen to "The Road to Recovery" in streaming RealAudio (click here).  To download free RealAudio player click here.

The Infinite Mind presents the second in our series of special reports on the psychological impact of Hurricane Katrina. Last week, we looked at conditions “In the Wake of the Storm.”  This week, The Infinite Mind continues its coverage with “The Road to Recovery” (airing the week starting September 14th, 2005.)

With thousands dead, tens of thousands homeless and a mass exodus from the Gulf Coast, what can we expect the impact will be over the next few months.  What will it take for the nation to heal? 

Reach out to help in your community

Mental health advocates and professionals: The broadcast of The Infinite Mind's program, "The Road to Recovery," (airing nationally the week starting September 14, 2005), provides a unique and ongoing opportunity for your local mental health organization to reach out to your community through your local public radio station.

This program focuses on the critical need for community mental health services and the impact that Hurricane Katrina will have on the nation's mental health care system.  The special also highlights the severe Medicaid cuts being proposed, and the impact they would have on U.S. mental health care services. Together, they provide an important chance for you and your group to work with your local public station to localize these stories.

Public radio stations: Localize this important national broadcast

Public radio stations: Use the opportunity of the national broadcast of The Infinite Mind's "A Road to Recovery," airing the week beginning September 14, 2005, to explore critical issues regarding mental health care and services in your community.  Work with your listeners and community mental health organizations, advocates and professionals to create local follow-up programming. 

Important Disaster Mental Health Resources Now Available:

From the National Center for PTSD and The Terrorism and Disaster Branch of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress:

• Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide  Just released update for Hurricane Katrina. The most authoritative source for treating trauma from initial contact, through stabilization and connecting with services. (47 page PDF file - click here to download) 
• Fact sheets with practical tips for parents, educators and others to help their children after a disaster: Pre-school Children (2 pages PDF)  School Age Children (2 pages PDF) Adolescents  (2 pages PDF)
• More information and resources from the National Center for PTSD are also available on-line.

Hurricane Katrina Resource Guide - Comprehensive list of web sites, contacts and phone numbers compiled by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (32 page PDF file - click here to download)

Tell your story.

If you have a story to tell, a question about dealing with the crisis, or a need for care or services, share it on The Infinite Mind message board.

Social service needs in disaster host communities (news reports):

Washington, DC:  1,300 evacuees and the number needing social services is "not stabilizing." (Washington Post)

Demopolis, AL: "One in four from disaster area has mental disorder. (Demopolis Times)

Torrance CA: 2,000 evacuees arrive in LA amidst the city's 90,000 homeless.  (Daily Breeze)

Emergency meds.

Alabama Governor Riley gives pharmacists OK to make emergency refills to avert medication crisis.

Texas pharmacists to offer evacuees up to 30 days of emergency medication without prescription.

Will other states follow? 

Depression, PTSD and substance abuse: what can be expected?

Federal studies found increased depression and PTSD and increased substance abuse in the aftermath of 9/11.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse

First reports of untreated addictions presenting problems on Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina.

Federal mental health funding still facing cuts despite Katrina.

Word from the Bazelon Center is Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) have joined to press for an indefinite delay to the $10 billion in budget cuts to Medicaid at a time when mental health services are critical. 

Katrina mental health resources.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has just released a new guide to Hurricane Katrina mental health resources. (Revised 9/14/05) (Click here for PDF file. HTML coming soon.)

This week on The Infinite Mind: In the Wake of the Storm: A Special Report

Listen to this week's show (September 7, 2005):

Free MP3 download or transcript of The Infinite Mind's "In the Wake of the Storm: A Special Report" (Click here to visit The Infinite Mind web store for free downloads) 

Listen to "In the Wake of the Storm: A Special Report" in streaming RealAudio (click here).  To download free RealAudio player click here.

In the Wake of the Storm: A Special Report is a story of the hurricane that is as yet untold. When one million people evacuated the Gulf Coast, they left behind the region's most vulnerable residents, poor people, and people with multiple physical and mental disabilities. They are finally escaping . . . but to what? And of the one million people who fled, experts say we can also expect to see prolonged instances of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

Mental health experts have been warning for years of the consequences that a disaster of the scope of Katrina would pose on the nation's already under-funded and over-stressed mental health system. But much like the warnings about New Orleans fragile levees, these cautions have been disregarded; the mental health infrastructure in much of the country has been gutted by deep cuts in community mental health programs.

Particularly damaged by these budget cuts is the state of Texas, now the new home to hundreds of thousands of refugees suffering from severe trauma reactions as well as a whole range of serious and persistent mental illnesses. How will states cope? Can we expect that mental health disaster relief will receive the same attention and funding as housing, food and other medical needs?