Book contents
- Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental Health: The Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond
- Frontispiece
- Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental Health: The Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 The 1988 Spitak Earthquake in Armenia and the Implementation of the Psychiatric Outreach Program
- Chapter 2 Diaspora Therapists Working in the Earthquake Zone
- Chapter 3 Treatment Outcome among Early Adolescents Two Decades Post-Earthquake
- Chapter 4 Course and Predictors of PTSD and Depression among Not Treated Children and Adolescents over Two Decades
- Chapter 5 Conscience, Moral Injury, and Psychopathology
- Chapter 6 Natural Disasters and Relocation
- Chapter 7 Long-Term Course of PTSD and Depression Among Adults, Mediating and Moderating Factors in Recovery, and Current Trends for Treatment
- Chapter 8 How the Spitak Earthquake Contributed to our Understanding of the Genetics of PTSD and Associated Disorders
- Chapter 9 Epidemiology of Disasters and the Spitak Earthquake
- Chapter 10 Traumatic Stress Conceptual Framework
- Chapter 11 Memoirs of the Spitak Earthquake
- Chapter 12 Lessons Learned from the Spitak Earthquake and Other Catastrophic Disasters
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Chapter 7 - Long-Term Course of PTSD and Depression Among Adults, Mediating and Moderating Factors in Recovery, and Current Trends for Treatment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2022
- Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental Health: The Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond
- Frontispiece
- Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental Health: The Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 The 1988 Spitak Earthquake in Armenia and the Implementation of the Psychiatric Outreach Program
- Chapter 2 Diaspora Therapists Working in the Earthquake Zone
- Chapter 3 Treatment Outcome among Early Adolescents Two Decades Post-Earthquake
- Chapter 4 Course and Predictors of PTSD and Depression among Not Treated Children and Adolescents over Two Decades
- Chapter 5 Conscience, Moral Injury, and Psychopathology
- Chapter 6 Natural Disasters and Relocation
- Chapter 7 Long-Term Course of PTSD and Depression Among Adults, Mediating and Moderating Factors in Recovery, and Current Trends for Treatment
- Chapter 8 How the Spitak Earthquake Contributed to our Understanding of the Genetics of PTSD and Associated Disorders
- Chapter 9 Epidemiology of Disasters and the Spitak Earthquake
- Chapter 10 Traumatic Stress Conceptual Framework
- Chapter 11 Memoirs of the Spitak Earthquake
- Chapter 12 Lessons Learned from the Spitak Earthquake and Other Catastrophic Disasters
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Summary
At 1.5 years post-Spitak-earthquake, elderly survivors had significantly less intrusive and more hyperarousal symptoms (e.g., startle, hypervigilance, irritability, insomnia) than younger adults, indicating that treatment for the elderly requires more focus on hyperarousal symptoms (e.g., use of anxiety management techniques).
At 1.5- and 4.5-years post-earthquake, two groups of adults, exposed to severe trauma (earthquake and political violence), experienced comparably high levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms. The results dispelled the prior notion that natural disasters result in less severe reactions and underscore the importance of using objective and subjective measurements to determine exposure severity. They also showed that previous exposure to political violence had an additive effect on subsequent earthquake exposure-related PTSD severity.
The twenty-three-year prospective study among adult survivors of the earthquake showed that a substantial portion of the population (11.6%) still had PTSD related to the earthquake, and another 9.9% had PTSD related to post-earthquake traumas (e.g., fights, accidents, etc.). Risk factors for PTSD at twenty-three-year follow-up included baseline depression, job loss, post-earthquake traumas, and chronic medical illnesses. The chapter also presents important findings from other disaster studies, including the effect of cumulative trauma, delayed onset PTSD, increased mortality associated with PTSD and depression, and comparisons of recommended treatments for PTSD and depression and their limitations.
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- Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental HealthThe Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond, pp. 111 - 136Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022