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Mental Recovery Issues After Tampa Hurricane

Mental Problems That Can Arise During Storm Recovery.



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Mental Problems That Can Arise Post-Hurricane.

Depression

Post-hurricane depression can cause anxiety, sleeplessness, and or weight loss.   The hurricane victims' sense of hopelessness is compounded by their awareness that the hurricane's mental health recovery will take years.   This makes hurricane depression difficult to treat because a simple change in environment does not remedy the situation.   Some people are reluctant to seek professional help due to feelings of being inadequate or embarrassed for having hurricane mental health problems. Hurricane mental health recovery requires that hurricane victims have a strong desire for returning to normalcy as quickly as possible, otherwise they may fall victim to post-hurricane depression which could lead to suicide attempts leading up to and after hurricane season.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

In PTSD, hurricane victims relive the hurricane experience in vivid detail.   They are constantly filled with hurricane anxiety and may have trouble concentrating on other aspects of their hurricane recovery process.   What adds further hurricane stress is that hurricane victims react more than once to a hurricane disaster; hurricane mental health professionals recognize four stages which they refer to as phases.

Anxiety

Hurricane stress can lead hurricane mental health recovery victims to develop hurricane anxiety, which affects hurricane victims' hurricane recovery.   Hurricane anxiety symptoms often persist for long periods after hurricane season has ended.

Suicide

Some hurricane victims become overwhelmed with hurricane depression and hurricane anxiety causing them to think about suicide.   Post-hurricane mental health professionals must be aware of this so they can refer these individuals to either a post-hurricane psychologist or a suicide hotline immediately. A professional post-hurricane mental health recovery plan should include an educational component on the warning signs that people exhibit before there are indications that they might commit suicidal acts. This allows those involved in hurricane mental health recovery to report these individuals early enough so that they can get help from local crisis

There are a variety of responses to natural disasters such as hurricanes:  The first is called normalcy bias where hurricane victims believe everything will be okay and nothing bad will happen to them or their family members etc., even though there may be danger approaching. When the hurricane strikes the area, hurricane anxiety can cause people to panic and run away from the danger without considering that it might be safe to stay where they are. hurricane mental health recovery focuses on this response as it is common amongst hurricane victims and can seriously delay hurricane recovery efforts if people do not seek hurricane mental health treatment for their hurricane anxiety.

Hurricane depression affects hurricane mental health recovery hurricane victims greatly; post-hurricane depression creates a state of hopelessness and despair that makes hurricane mental health recovery difficult.   People experience hurricane depression in different ways:  Some become angry, others feel helpless, some give up and stop trying to return back to normalcy after the hurricane season, while others give away their belongings or donate them, etc., these actions aggravate post-hurricane depression so it is important to get early help before symptoms worsen causing more harm than good.

Logistical challenges that a community can face when providing mental health assistance after a major hurricane.

Understanding Logistics Are Critical.

To address hurricane mental health services, it is important to understand hurricane logistics. Hurricanes cause large amounts of damage across the hurricane's path. Since hurricane paths usually follow the coastline of a region, hurricane events along areas where there are many hurricane events can make for logistical nightmares in providing mental health assistance after that hurricane event has passed. In order to provide the best care possible for those affected by hurricanes, various organizations from all over will be called upon to help with recovery efforts and humanitarian aid distribution. This is especially true if the regional infrastructure and supplies have been destroyed or damaged during a hurricane event.

Difficulites Can Arise:

It is difficult to know how psychological resources and hurricane mental health services can best be provided to hurricane-affected communities. One of the largest challenges in providing hurricane mental health services is getting the information out to those who need it. The hurricane logistics are difficult but oftentimes the aftermath of hurricane recovery efforts presents an even greater challenge because of communication difficulties; therefore, hurricane mental health resources for hurricane victims can be very hard to obtain. Often times trying to deliver hurricane mental health assistance is hindered by logistical issues such as, fuel shortages, road damage, and destroyed infrastructure which can interrupt communications between organizations that would normally take part in recovery efforts from a hurricane event

The magnitude of a hurricane event can cause significant psychological stress on people along with material losses. There is usually no time for preparation or evacuation, leaving hurricane victims little or nothing to use for hurricane preparedness. Hurricane preparation and evacuation services are normally outside the realm of hurricane mental health resources, but if they occur at all hurricane mental health resources may be available through those organizations involved in hurricane logistics.

Although hurricane mental health services can be more difficult to access than other types of mental health assistance, many recovery efforts from a hurricane event will involve psychological damage assessments which is always an important part of providing hurricane mental healthcare after a major hurricane makes landfall. Damage assessment information can also help in developing other humanitarian aid-related activities such as rebuilding efforts where logistical concerns caused by hurricane damage still exist preventing affected individuals from having access to their homes or businesses. This type of damage assessment information helps people recover faster after a hurricane because hurricane mental healthcare services are quickly provided to hurricane victims.

In hurricane mental health, the focus is usually on assessing survivors' needs to determine how hurricane mental healthcare resources can best be used in helping them regain their emotional equilibrium. 

The hurricane logistics can include performing assessments to see what kinds of damage have been caused by a hurricane and then using that information to provide hurricane mental healthcare services or other types of humanitarian aid-related assistance. This combined with trying to assess the psychological needs of those affected by hurricanes contributes to some logistical difficulties in providing hurricane mental health after a major hurricane makes landfall.  It is important that hurricane mental health services be given due consideration during planning stages prior to any possible future disaster events which may cause psychological trauma issues for hurricane survivors.

The hurricane mental health logistical challenges include hurricane mental health services for hurricane victims as well as the hurricane damage assessment process which helps hurricane survivors get hurricane mental healthcare assistance and other humanitarian aid-related resources to help them recover from hurricane destruction more quickly. Post-hurricane problems encountered during the hurricane mental healthcare process due to logistical concerns can be addressed by hurricane mental health professionals if they are made aware of the difficulties before a hurricane event occurs.  Getting information out to those who need it is a large part of providing hurricane mental health services after major hurricanes make landfall. There are many factors that affect how logistics work in hurricane recovery efforts, but one of the biggest contributing factors is Hurricane Mental Health Services.

Some Are More Vulnerable Than Others:

Some people are more vulnerable than others, as there is a tendency towards post-hurricane mental problems for the elderly or those who were dependent on their homes and communities for support before and even after the hurricane struck.  

Post-hurricane mental health recovery focuses on a few areas:

  • Counseling services provided by non-profit organizations specializing in mental health

  • Employee assistance programs, school-based mental health services

  • Educational initiatives like workshops and seminars about hurricane recovery efforts which focus on hurricane mental health recovery




Hurricane Harvey, a category 3 hurricane hit the state of Texas on August 25th, 2017. Along with Florida and Georgia, Texas was hit hard during the three days that Hurricane Harvey raged through the Gulf Coast and affected over 300 counties. Altogether, Hurricane Harvey brought $125 billion in damages that affected over 2 million people.

When communities are affected by natural disasters as such they are more susceptible to mental health problems due to their proximity to the event. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that mental health effects after disaster events can be the highest in those suffering due to a natural disaster.

Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and others tend to worsen after a major event. These conditions are often exacerbated by the unexpected loss of life or property. The four most common types of mental health conditions are anxiety disorders, depression, adjustment disorder, and trauma-related disorders. The strength of the affected community is critical when providing assistance because this directly affects how successful a plan will be to help people recover.


Long-Term VS. Short-Term Recovery


The goals of recovery efforts following disasters can have different objectives depending on how communities want to recover. The difference between these two models can divide communities according to their values and goals for recovery efforts.

  • Long Term Recovery (LTR)

  • Short Term Recovery (STR)


Short-term Goal:

The main goal of short-term recovery efforts is to assist community members with immediate needs after the disaster. A short-term recovery effort will be focused on assisting community members in coping with losses and damages, as well as restoring normalcy in daily life. Community members who go through this type of recovery effort are more likely to have a positive outlook about their future.


Long-Term Goal:

The main goal of long-term recovery is to help affected communities restore what they had before the disaster occurred, oftentimes better than it was before the disaster occurred. This type of recovery is referred to as being “better than new”. This goal requires efforts to assist community members in regaining their sense of normalcy in the face of significant losses. In order for recovery efforts to be successful, this model requires that the community be strong and believes that recovery is possible.


Useful strategies to help people recover after a hurricane can be anything from long-term solutions such as FEMA trailers to short-term solutions such as offering support groups or counseling. In addition, there are different strategies that help people recover at different times and different places. The following are some examples of steps that communities can take throughout the recovery process. Local mental health services can assist in the recovery of the bay area.

  • Planning

  • Support resources

  • Marketing


In order to better understand which strategies are most effective for recovery efforts following a major disaster, there is a need to adequately research communities that have undergone long-term recovery. This is because there is a lack of data available about how post-disaster communities handle a major event. Studies often focus on short-term recovery factors such as emotional well-being. There has not been enough research on how the community changes in terms of their physical needs and behavioral patterns affect them after a major disaster.

It has been difficult to study post-disaster communities due to several reasons. One issue is that it has been difficult for researchers to access the places that have just undergone a major disaster because they may still be restricted from access. Additionally, there are ethical issues when there are not enough volunteers that want to participate in long-term studies after a disaster. In these cases, researchers use the incidents of natural disasters in geographic areas and then compare them with those same geographical areas before the hurricane struck.


Tampa Florida

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Communities Will Recover Mentally At Different Rates:

In order to help communities recover from hurricanes or any other disasters, it is important to understand how individuals recover from their post-disaster conditions. Two main types of recovery models include short-term recovery and long-term recovery. Short-term recovery focuses on the needs of the community as they attempt to return to normalcy after a disaster. However, long-term recovery looks at how the physical area is restored to what it was before the disaster struck. This often includes rebuilding structures and infrastructure, as well as improving infrastructure that may have been damaged during the hurricane or other major event.

Community members recover from their experiences in different ways and at different times. After a major event, there are some key issues that impact their ability to fully recover from their traumatic experiences. Some of these factors include pre-existing conditions, the overall state of the community's health, and the availability of resources after the hurricane.


The main factor that impacts individual recovery from hurricanes or other disasters is how each individual handles their situation. There are many factors that play into an individual's recovery process including their belief in their ability to recover as well as their definition of what it means to recover. An important factor in a person's recovery is their own coping methods. Once a person has suffered from a major event, they will develop a different routine in order to cope with what they have experienced. As a result, it is important for individuals to understand how they can cope with their new routines and activities.

There are certain professions that may be very helpful for individuals in recovery after a major event. For example, counseling services are available from many different people that can help individuals cope with their experiences. Additionally, there are many types of support groups that some individuals may find helpful as well as the availability of technological resources such as smartphones, computers, and other electronics. Throughout all stages of recovery, it is important to have a simple plan in order to best maintain their physical and mental health.


There are a large number of challenges that places must overcome once the hurricane has passed. The main challenges that the Hillsborough County community must overcome are the restoration of their community from the damage that may have occurred and the rebuilding of their livelihoods. The most important aspect of building back is to be prepared for future events in order to maintain a sense of security in an unsafe environment. It is important for all communities to come together to solve their problems and discuss ways to improve their community.

In order to maintain a sense of security in one's community, it is important for one to have a thorough plan that will reduce the chance of future damage. To do so, communities must implement innovative and effective means of security in order to ensure they are prepared for any potential disasters. One major aspect of maintaining security within an area is improving line of sight so that alerts can be sent when there is danger approaching. Another major aspect is creating communication systems that can be used by first responders and officials when severe weather approaches. Another important aspect that is often overlooked is the implementation of storm shelters and bunkers in public places such as schools or police stations. Storm shelters are extremely important because they can protect many lives in a disaster.

Having a plan in place for when the next hurricane hits are very important because if you are prepared, there will be less damage and fewer casualties. It is also important because it will give people a sense of security and help them feel safer than if they did not have anything planned. Communities should plan together using the information provided and should work together to come up with solutions to the problems that exist within their community.


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