Volume 38 · Number 2
FEBRUARY 2008
A Review of Mental Health Issues as a Result of Hurricane Katrina
By Mordecai N. Potash, MD; Daniel K. Winstead, MD
Hurricane Katrina was an unprecedented disaster in the United States, whose effects and consequences are ongoing. What is well known to those of us practicing psychiatry in this region is that Hurricane Katrina created diverse and serious mental health issues that have been among the greatest personal and professional challenges of our lives. This article is intended to review and explore these issues since Katrina’s landfall on August 29, 2005. We hope that our experiences can inform mental health professionals planning for or facing regional or national emergencies.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mordecai N. Potash, MD, is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine. Daniel K. Winstead, MD, is Heath Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine.
Address correspondence to: Mordecai N. Potash, MD, Tulane SOM Dept. of Psychiatry and Neurology, TB 48, 1440 Canal Street, 10th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112-2715; or e-mail mpotash@tulane.edu.
Dr. Potash and Dr. Winstead have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
- Review issues in mental health care arising in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina’s landfall and how these issues can help mental health professionals plan for future regional or national emergencies.
- Discuss psychological stressors affecting first-responders during the first weeks and months after Hurricane Katrina and review findings of researchers studying mental health consequences in affected residents in New Orleans.
- Explain the consequences of the loss of mental health practitioners and facilities on the returning population of New Orleans and discuss responses of government officials to the loss of mental health services in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
To Human Resilience
Jan Fawcett, MD
Long-term Psychiatric Consequences of Hurricane Katrina
Harold M. Ginzburg, MD, JD, MPH
Psychiatric Disorders among Transported Hurricane Evacuees: Acute-phase Findings in a Large Receiving Shelter Site
Carol S. North, MD, MPE;
Richard V. King, PhD;
Raymond L. Fowler, MD, FACEP;
Peter Polatin, MD, MPH;
Rebecca P. Smith, MD;
H. Alan LaGrone, MD, PhD;
David Tyler, MD;
G. Luke Larkin, MD, MS, MSPH;
Paul E. Pepe, MD, MPH
First Responder Culture: Implications for Mental Health Professionals Providing Services Following a Natural Disaster
Mindy Kronenberg, PhD;
Howard J. Osofsky, MD, PhD;
Joy D. Osofsky, PhD;
Michele Many, LCSW;
Melissa Hardy, GSW;
James Arey, PhD, LPC
Katrina Survivors Relocated to Oklahoma: A Tale of Two Cities
Phebe Tucker, MD;
Betty Pfefferbaum, MD, JD;
Qaiser Khan, MPH;
M. Jan Young, MD;
Christopher E. Aston, PhD;
Janell Holmes, BS;
Kim A. Coon, EdD;
Jamie Thompson
Did the Prevalence of PTSD Following Hurricane Katrina Match a Rapid Needs Assessment Prediction? A Template for Future Public Planning After Large-Scale Disasters
Richard Dalton, MD;
Michael S. Scheeringa, MD, MPH;
Charles H. Zeanah, MD
New Orleans Medical Students post-Katrina — an Assessment of Psychopathology and Anticipatory Transference of Resilience
Harold M. Ginzburg, MD, JD, MPH;
David J. Bateman
Physician-Psychiatrists’ Role in Disaster Response Efforts
Nicholas G. Pejic, MD;
Harold M. Ginzburg, MD, JD, MPH
