Immediate Response lingering over: After a natural disaster such as Mount St. Helen's eruption, of course family and friends who are and are not hit with it will be impacted. You can experience anxiety, depression, and even trauma. However, if these symptoms last longer than a couple of weeks, then that is when it becomes a problem. Most common disorder to come out after natural disaster is Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
After eruptions, especially massive ones, many people lose their jobs and homes. It tears families apart and ruins the economy. This can all result into depression. Depression meaning, "A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life" It is not easy to lose sentimental possessions or face economic uncertainties. People going into these challenges can feel hopeless or in despair. Having a depressed state right after is aye okay, but anything over two weeks may be a concern. A coping strategy that can be used is a support group. Get involved with other people who may be going through a similar experience and help each other out of the hole. If the depression is severe please result into seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist and seek medicine if applicable. Specifically correlating with Mount st. Helen's aftermath, " mental illness (235.8% increase) diagnoses in the local mental health clinic. Indeed, in the seven-month post-disaster period, the total number of diagnoses for the three categories reached 1,695 persons "(Adams. 255).
Also within the aftermath of eruptions, people can look for a coping strategy. You may think this can be like go see a therapist or write a journal, but what if it was a negative coping skill? Some people who just occasionally smoke or drink can become obsessive and overdose maybe causing death. However, some people might start the usage of it and also lead into the same trail. Addiction to substances such as alcohol or drugs to "take away the pain" can lead to many causes such as: cancers, diseases, and fatality. These are just very few of the possible outcomes. For instance, "In a study of Hurricane Katrina survivors who had been displaced to Houston, Texas, approximately one-third reported increasing their tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use after the storm." This signifies that it is highly possible to be an outcome within the aftermath of the eruption. In relations to Mount Saint Helen's eruptions, The statistics show it all. They speak the truth of the devastating negative coping citizens turn to, "with increases in District Court cases involving alcohol (excluding DWIs) (+10%), referrals to the Community Alcohol Center (+20%), and police arrests for violation of liquor laws (+43.6%). These findings suggest that due to local driving conditions, alcohol abuse was transferred to other settings, such as the home or taverns"(Adams 255-256). the passage goes on to say, "The evidence indicates that a disaster of this sort is likely to increase physical and psychosomatic illness, alcohol-related problems"(Adams 258). This proves that many people go seek a solution to hide the pain. Acknowledge the word "hide". Turning to substance abuse will not solve the problem, but just cover it up.
Overall, Lets begin by stating the obvious and say natural disasters don’t only impact people individually. Natural Disasters puts the economy six feet under. “ The eruption of Mount St. Helen's killed 57 people, damaged and destroyed 200 homes, wiped out the forest and popular Spirit Lake and killed around 7,000 animals. It also damaged highways and railroads...” This demonstrates that it took away people giving into the money flow, transporting which is a big industry that provided money flow, and also the reproduction of the animals that died. "The International Trade Commission estimated damages to timber, civil works and agriculture to be $1.1 billion. Congress approved $950 million in emergency funds to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration to help with recovery efforts" (Mount St. Helen's Eruption: Facts & Information 2018).