Katrina Survivor Turns to Valium, Alcohol to Ease Mental Woes September 27, 2005
News Summary
Beer and Valium are the drugs of choice for Tom Leynes, 49, who is trying to ward off depression after losing his house and job in Hurricane Katrina.The Associated Press reported Sept. 23 that Leynes said he's having more trouble sleeping -- and coping -- nearly a month after the storm hit. "I'm losing my mind," said Leynes, now living in a tent in Gulfport, Miss.
"People are recognizing this isn't like a tornado where things will be rebuilt and life will get back. Life will not be the same. So there is a despair and a depression that is setting in," said psychologist Dorothy Dickson-Rishel of Memorial Hospital in Gulfport.
"As things subside a little and the immediate threat disappears, some of the processing of what actually happened occurs," added Israel Liberzon, M.D., a University of Michigan psychiatrist specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The "high" that some people got from helping fellow survivors in the immediate aftermath of the storm is being replaced by the daily grind of living with relatives or strangers. "You don't know where your friends are. The kids aren't in school. Even the way a lot of people drive to work is different," said Julie Bosley, a Waveland resident. "There are just so many changes."
Oddly, local mental-health experts say requests for some services has actually declined -- possibly because people have been uprooted by the storm or are too busy trying to cope with their daily lives, said Michael Zieman, administrator of Memorial Behavioral Health in Gulfport. But counselors are starting to hear from employers who say their workers need help. Even many helping professionals, who also suffered losses in the storm, have suffered emotional fatigue.
Experts say that symptoms will ease for most victims, but some may end up suffering from PTSD.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: