Skip to main content

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 80))

Abstract

Disasters capture the attention of the media and the mind of the researcher alike because of the horror and the threat which they embody. They confront the individual with the most basic challenge of life: survival against the odds and in the face of danger and devastation. They epitomise the external nature of destruction and the threat which lies outside the self, in a world of uncontrollable forces. In natural disasters it is men and women versus the natural world with its ebbs and flows, the extremes against which many engineering projects and much technology aim to protect us. Man-made disasters involve the externalisation of evil and responsibility into those to blame.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (1993). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. ( 3rd ed. ). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N., Davis, G. C., Andreski, P., & Peterson, E. (1991). Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in an urban population of young adults. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 216–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bromet, G. E., Schulberg, H. C., & Dunn, L. O. (1982). Reactions of psychiatric patients to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 725–730.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978). The social origins of depression: a study of psychiatric disorder in women. London, Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Can, Y. J., Lewin, T. J., Carter, G. L., & Webster, R. A. (1992). Patterns of service utilisation following the 1989 Newcastle earthquake: fmdings from phase i of the Quake Impact study. Australian Journal of Public Health, 16, 360–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creamer, M., Burgess, P., & Pattison, P. (1992). Reaction to trauma: a cognitive processing model. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 452–459.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, J. T. R., & Foa, E. (1992). DSM-IV Trauma and Beyond. Washington: APA Press DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Steketee, G., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1989). Behavioral cognitive conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behavioral Therapy, 20, 155–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontana, A., Rosenheck, R., & Brett, E. (1992). War zone traumas and posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 748–755.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freedy, J. R., Kilpatrick, J. R., & Resnick, H. S. (1993). Natural disasters and mental health: theory, assessment, and intervention. In Allen, R. (ed), Handbook of post-disaster interventions. (Special Issue). Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 8, 49–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1973). Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis: fixation to traumas — the unconscious. Translated by Strachey, James. Ringwood, Victoria: Pengu in Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freidman, M. J. (1988). Toward rational pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: an interim report. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 281–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, B. L. (1993). Identifying survivors at risk trauma and stressor across events. In J. P. Wilson, and B. Raphael (Eds), International handbook of traumatic stress syndormes, (pp. 135–144 ). New York, Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hauff, E., & Vaglum, P. (1993). Vietnamese boat refugees: the influence of war and flight traumatization on mental health on arrival in the country of resettlement: a community cohort study of Vietnamese refugees in Norway. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 88, 162–168.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (1991). Traumatic stress: a theory based on rapid loss of resources. Anxiety Research, 4, 187–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment of rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 215–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, M. J. (1986). Stress response syndromes. New York, Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S. (1990). Inside Madness. British Medical Journal, 301, 1476–1478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janney, J. G., Masuda, M., & Holmes, T. H. (1977). Impact of a natural catastrophe on life events. Journal of Human Stress, 3, 22–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (1989). The aetiology of post-traumatic morbidity: predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 221–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (1991). Victims and survivors. Current Opinions in Psychiatry, 4, 833–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (1992). Avoidance and intrusion in posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 439–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C., & Cao, H. (1993). Study of a major disaster in the People’s Republic of China: The Yunnan Earthquake. In Raphael, B. and Wilson, J. (Eds.). The International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes (pp. 493–498 ). New York, Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Napier, M. (1991). The medical and legal trauma of disasters. The Medical and Legal Traumas of Disasters, 59, 157–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pugh, C., & Trimble, M. R. (1993). Psychiatric injury after Hillsborough. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 425–429.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, B., Lundin, T., & Weisaeth, L. (1989). PTSS-10: Reactions following an accident or a disaster. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Supplementum, 353 (80), 58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, A. (1992). Posttraumatic stress disorder among injured survivors of a terrorist attack: predictive value of early intrusion and avoidance symptoms. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 505–509.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, A. Y. (1993). Post-traumatic stress disorder: a biopsychological perspective. Israeli Journal of Psychiatry and Related Science, 30, 102–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, S. D., & Canino, G. J. (1990). Appropriateness of DSM-III-R criteria for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31, 227–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spiegel (1993). Standford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire. (Unpublished manuscript).

    Google Scholar 

  • Spurrell, M., & McFarlane, A. C. (1993). Posttraumatic stress disorder and coping after a natural disaster. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 28, 194–200.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • True, W. R., Heath, A. C., Rice, J., Eisen, S. A., Goldberg, J., & Lyons, M. J. (1993, October). Multivariate analysis of genetic and environmental contributions to susceptibility to posttraumatic stress disorder. Proceedings of ISTSS Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A., & van der Hart, O. (1991). The intrusive past: the flexibility of memory and the engraving of trauma. American Imago, 48 425–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisaeth, L. (1989). The stressors and the post-traumatic stress syndrome after an industrial disaster. Special Issue: Traumatic stress: Empirical studies from Norway. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 80, 25–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation. (1992). Mental disorders: glossary and guide to their classification in accordance with the tenth revision of the International Classification of Disease. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wortman, C. B., & Silver, R. C. (1989). The myths of coping with loss. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 349–357.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

McFarlane, A.C. (1995). Stress and Disaster. In: Hobfoll, S.E., de Vries, M.W. (eds) Extreme Stress and Communities: Impact and Intervention. NATO ASI Series, vol 80. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8486-9_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8486-9_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4548-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8486-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics