Disaster Psychiatry

The Sandy Hook Promise . . “To do everything in our power to be remembered--not as the town filled with grief and victims; but as the place where real change began.”

It is yet unclear whether the overwhelming shock of Newtown will galvanize action not only to prevent future mass murderers, but also to finally reduce the public health and mental health risks of more chronic, common, and routine gun violence in America.

The news media has always been in the business of searching for "the right sort of madness" to capture the public's imagination.

Newtown’s loss has finally forced us to look more deeply at violence and the treatment of mental health within our society.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, incarcerated psychiatric patients at Bellevue Hospital had to be evacuated. Because the hospital was flooded and without power, those inpatients had to be moved without the help of elevators, electronic or phone communication, or even running water.

What we know for sure is that for all the young children and adults who were killed in Newtown, their world ended a week ago. Soon after the tragedy, one of the fathers of a child killed tearfully pleaded for society to learn from what happened in order to prevent future mass murders. Here, recommendations from a psychiatrist.

The grief that the Shoah brought to its victims would make its reappearance even at happy times long afterwards.

I was 9 years old in December 1959 when I left and 60 in July 2011 when I returned to Lodz, Poland. My return-a journey through time as well as space-was a continuation of a trip from my home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I teach and practice clinical and forensic psychiatry, to Berlin, where I gave a number of presentations at a conference of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH).

The term “pseudocommando” was first used to describe the type of mass murderer who plans his actions “after long deliberation,” and who kills indiscriminately in public during the daytime.

The mental health implications of disasters on individuals and communities are enormous. Psychiatrists play a key role in helping to mitigate and lessen the traumatic burden and in fostering resiliency efforts.

While the Army considers what, if any, disciplinary actions to take against those who directed the medical training of MAJ Nidal Hasan-the accused Fort Hood shooter-one psychiatrist’s legal counsel faults the military for blaming a handful of officers for a broader institutional failing.

Army personnel responsible for supervising the Army psychiatrist now accused of the November 5, 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex, may find themselves accused of failing to follow Army policies and regulations and taking appropriate actions.

There has been much recent attention to the deleterious effects of natural disasters and war on children and adolescents.

The following medical and behavioral health providers were killed or wounded during the November 5 Fort Hood shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 29 wounded.

The impact of terrorism reaches many aspects of health and health care: acute and chronic symptoms of anxiety and depression, changes in health-related behaviors, and long-term strain and tension.