Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder: A Contrasting View

The belief that large‐scale natural disaster can bring severe stress and deviant behaviour has existed for some time, and incidents have been described from as far back as the 1800s in America. The resultant behaviour was categorized, in 1980, as “post‐traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD). There is a division among those interested in the psychological consequences of large‐scale disaster. One school argues that mental health effects are significant and long term, the other that they are not so much so. Reviews the evidence,including examples from World War II and the Towyn floods in 1990. Suggests that two positions may apply: that PTSD exists in conventional terms, with long‐term psychological effects; or alternatively that,although there may be psychological effects, the main difficulties are caused by major disruption to normal life patterns by material effect. Concludes by suggesting that the second position may hold and that,consequently, organizations should concern themselves more with alleviating material effect while ensuring that the mental effect is minimized. Suggests further research with prompt field studies to establish the nature of the disorder.