A survey made by Sandro Galea, M.D., Dr. P.H., of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor and colleagues on 1,043 residents who had been living in affected areas of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi before Hurricane Katrina, revealed high prevalence of mental illness among people who survived the hurricane back in August 29, 2005.

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States crashing the region and the lives of a huge number of people. With more than 1800 people reported dead and more than $81 billion in damage, specialists wondered whether or not the region would ever recover. The most tragic aspect of this disaster was the destruction of home across Louisiana and Mississippi, especially in low to middle-income neighborhoods. Tens of thousands of people lost not only their homes but their entire community as well. Two years later after the disaster, the things are still looking bleak in many parts of the region.

"Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in the United States in the past 75 years, creating a disaster region as large as Great Britain…This vast devastation would lead us to expect a high prevalence of mental illness among people who lived through Katrina," the authors write as background information in the article.

The telephone survey was conducted between January 19 and March 31, 2006, five to seven months after the storm. Participants in the survey were asked about stressors related to the hurricane and screened for symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, panic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), within 30 days of the interview.

The most commonly cited stressors were problems with housing and property loss, says the survey. “The main message here is that the primary drivers of mental health risk were social and financial circumstances. So if we’re intent on minimizing psychopathology, it means mitigating those stressors quickly by restoring order and helping people back on their feet financially,” said Dr. Galea, lead author of the study.

About 31.2 percent of the participants had an anxiety-mood disorder, including 49.1 percent of the New Orleans metropolitan area residents and 26.4 percent of the other participants. Almost 17 percent of all participants had PTSD, including 30.3 percent of New Orleans residents and 12.5 percent of the others. Among people predisposed to anxiety-mood disorders numbered individuals younger than age 60, female, those who did not graduate college, those having a low family income or were unmarried or unemployed before the hurricane.

The conclusion of the study was that the slow government response to the hurricane in New Orleans created “avoidable stressors” on people who lived through the storm.

"(The evidence) argues strongly for the importance of efficient provision of practical and logistical assistance in future disasters, not only on humanitarian grounds, but also as a way to minimize the adverse mental health effects of disasters," Dr. Galea said.

The study was a joint project, funded by the National Institute if Mental Health and included researchers from seven universities. The findings are reported in the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.