The narrative epidemiology of L'Aquila 2009 earthquake

Abstract

The authors describe their experience working and living in L'Aquila, where at 3.32 a.m., early in the morning of 6 April 2009, a 6.3 Richter magnitude earthquake caused serious damages to this 13th century town (with a population of 72 000 and a health district of 103 788), in the mountainous Abruzzo region and to several medieval hill villages in the surrounding areas: 309 residents were killed, over 1600 were injured, 66 000 residents were displaced, and, the centre of L'Aquila, the main historical and artistic centre of Abruzzo, was totally destroyed.Here is described the work done at the Psychiatric Unit of the General Hospital of L'Aquila and in the University. The Authors report the incidence rate of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) in help-seekers (full ASD 4.9%, and partial ASD 39.3%), and of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found in different samples of population (range 12-37.5). The authors express their consideration about which real-world variables can reflect the population distress and the naturalistic process of recovery in such natural disasters. After the earthquake they hypothesize that a lot of residents had found their way to recover through 'writing, telling the story', by analogy with what narrative medicine asserts, thus estimating the positive effect of 'emotional disclosure' on health. A large number of materials (books, web-blogs, videos) were produced by residents and a database of memories was implemented. The suffering and struggle to recover in the aftermaths of a traumatic experience often yields remarkable transformations and positive growth. From this point of view, the authors underline the increased virtual relationships of residents through Facebook, to cope with the loss of previous social relationships, to get information about recreational opportunities, or to get organized for public events, despite their displacement. Many collective demonstrations were organized and showed the will to actively participate to the processes of reconstruction of the civil and scientific life of the town. The authors stress the need to prevent natural disasters, instead of preventing mental disorders following natural disasters, reporting that seven Italian seismologists and scientists are on trial for manslaughter, accused to have failed to evaluate the true risks of L'Aquila earthquake.Key words: Earthquakes, mental health, natural disasters, post-disaster intervention planning.When the night of 6 April 2009 we were thrown off our beds, and made homeless after 30 s, while in front of us the roof of the Church of Santa Maria Paganica was going down in a surreal mist, we did understand what it truly means to live a natural disaster, like an earthquake.The earthquake: at 3.32 a.m., early morning, 6 April 2009, L'Aquila was struck by a 6.3 Richter magnitude earthquake, followed by about 20 000 aftershocks. The earthquake caused serious damages to this 13th centuries town (with a population of 72 000 and a health district of 103 788), in the mountainous Abruzzo region and to several medieval ...

The effect of strategies of personal resilience on depression recovery in an Australian cohort: A mixed methods study

“…Published research concerned with resilience and health commonly focus on responses to communal threats (Eggerman and Panter-Brick 2010, Hobfoll, Mancini et al 2011, Vaughan, Tinker et al 2012) and natural disasters (Rajkumar, Premkumar et al 2008, Springgate, Wennerstrom et al 2011, Casacchia, Pollice et al 2012, Xu and He 2012. Researchers also consider responses to personal trauma, including sudden or violent loss (Kristensen, Weisaeth et al 2012), being a victim of violence (Zraly and Nyirazinyoye 2010), physical injury (Quayle and Schanke 2010), stroke (Ostir, Berges et al 2008), material adversity (Canvin, Marttila et al 2009) or an actual or potential diagnosis of cancer (Ho, Ho et al 2010, Hou, Law et al 2010).…”

Moderate Depression Promotes Posttraumatic Growth (Ptg): A Young Population Survey 2 Years after the 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake

“…Other people stayed with friends and relatives throughout Italy. Moreover, villages around the L’Aquila area were severely damaged [1]. …”

“…Casacchia et al (2012) reported that the 6-month prevalence rate of PTSD among L’Aquila survivors ranged from 12% to 37.5% in different population samples (clinical and not-clinical sample [1]. …”

Acute Stress Reactions and Associated Factors in the Help-Seekers after the L’Aquila Earthquake

“…The fourth limitation could be ascribed to the use of a self-report instrument, that is the SASRQ, as a diagnostic tool for ASD, but the poor emergency conditions in which local mental health professionals were working immediately after the earthquake did not allow for the administration of clinical interviews. As medical doctors, they were both victims and observers of the disaster [64]. …”

“…The earthquake caused serious damage to the 13th-century town of L’Aquila in the mountainous Abruzzo region and to several medieval hill villages in the surrounding areas, killing 309 residents, injuring over 1,600 residents, and leaving approximately 70,000 people homeless [64]. Approximately 44,000 people found accommodation in tented camps close to their place of residence, and a further 20,000 were housed in hotels on the Abruzzo Adriatic Sea coast.…”