Disaster psychiatry: principles and practice.
Increasingly, trauma and disasters are part of everyday life. Psychiatrists can play an important role in assisting individuals and communities to recover. They bring a unique set of skills and experiences that can be invaluable in minimizing morbidity and facilitating recovery. This paper discusses psychological, physiological, behavioral, and community responses encountered in the aftermath of a disaster. A preventive medicine model of understanding disaster response is discussed in which the psychiatrist delineates traumatic stressors and high-risk populations. The importance of psychiatric participation in disaster preparedness is emphasized. Psychiatric interventions targeted at the various longitudinal phases of disaster response are reviewed.
Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799, USA.
A E
AE
Norwood
R J
RJ
Ursano
C S
CS
Fullerton
D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D010819:Physician's Role; D011570:Psychiatry; D012066:Relief Work; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology