Abstract
Within the field of disaster studies, several aspects of normal psychological reactions and psychiatric disorders have been investigated. Most studies have been initiated after a specific disaster. There are prospective and retrospective investigations concerning directly and indirectly affected persons. It is well known that bereavement (Brown, 1986; Glick, Weiss, & Parkes, 1964b, 1972; Lundin, 1984a, 1987; Maddison & Walker, 1967; Parkes, 1964b, 1972; Raphael, 1983) and especially sudden and unexpected bereavement (Cowan & Murphy, 1985; Lundin, 1984b, 1987; Parkes & Weiss, 1983; Singh & Raphael, 1981) can cause increased somatic and psychic morbidity. There are also many studies of postdisaster effects among survivors (Bennet, 1970; Boman, 1977; Green, Grace, & Gleser, 1985; Green, Grace, Lindy, Titchener, & Lindy, 1983; Lifton & Olson, 1976; McFarlane & Raphael, 1984; Titchener & Kapp, 1976; Weisæth, 1984), which show an increased rate of mental illness or posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). Rescue and health care personnel (Holen, Sund, Weisaeth, & Alexander, 1983; Lindstrom & Lundin, 1982; Raphael, 1986; Raphael, Singh, Branbury, & Lambert, 1983-1984) are also indirectly affected groups at risk. Threat and coping (Bennet, 1970; Grinker & Spiegel, 1945; Lazarus, 1966; Menninger, 1952; Weisaeth, 1984) as well as anticipation of a disaster, including warnings, response, and preparedness (Raphael, 1986) are important factors for the psychological outcome in mental health (Green et al., 1983; Gleser, Green, & Winget, 1981; Lopez-Ibor, Soria, Canas, & Rodriguez-Gamazo, 1985).
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Lundin, T., Mårdberg, B., Otto, U. (1993). Chernobyl: Nuclear Threat as Disaster. In: Wilson, J.P., Raphael, B. (eds) International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2820-3_35
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