HCP’s Ronald C. Kessler, PhD, a professor of health care policy, recently testified before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery about results of a new study of the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group. This long-term effort, of which Kessler is principal investigator, is designed to track the mental health of Katrina survivors over several years and assess their needs for and use of services.

Results of an initial posthurricane survey showed that few survivors with mental disorders or chronic medical conditions received adequate care, with many respondents indicating a variety of difficulties accessing physicians and medications. In a more unexpected result, although this survey showed a significantly higher estimated level of serious mental illness than did a similar survey carried out before Katrina, the prevalence of suicidal thoughts was far lower in the posthurricane survey. The researchers found that survivors had discovered an inner strength and faith in their ability to cope that helped them move forward.

A subsequent survey, however—conducted two years after Katrina and in press in the journal Molecular Psychiatry—showed increased rates of serious mental illness, including suicidality, in the survivors, as their initial optimism proved unrealistic in the face of lagging relief and reconstruction efforts.

Read the press release from Harvard Medical School and the article on the HarvardScience website. Listen to an NPR Morning Edition report about this study featuring Kessler.