Reactions to a Disaster

Depersonalisation ‐ symptoms, meaning, therapy

“…The protective role of depersonalisation (see Meyer (1956), Roberts (1960), Crawshaw (1963) during most acute anxiety (severe psychogenic stress) is obvious. When eliminating or, to be exact, blocking the emotional component of information which enters one's consciousness, depersonalisation removes intolerable tension and thus prevents disorder of psychic processes and a possible somatic catastrophy.…”

Organizing Theories for Disasters into a Complex Adaptive System Framework

“…Individual reactions to the perceived context differentiates their behavior in relation to location, time, involvement in the disaster, and preparation and conditioning. Crawshaw [175] provided empirical validation of these differentiated individual reactions and attributed them to the needs of individuals in specific age groups and family make-up. Simultaneously, Lazarus [176] proposed a psychological stress theory in which individuals engage in threat appraisal rather than anxiety arousal before engaging in coping mechanisms of actions to strengthen resources from harm, attack, avoidance, or defense.…”

International family psychology.

“…While modern crisis intervention dates back to the Boston, MA, Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942 (Crenshaw, 1963;Roberts, 2000), it was the emotional fallout from the genocide in Rwanda and the equally devastating ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars of the 1990s that highlighted the need for psychosocial support in the international arena (Reyes, 2006). While a clear focus in international disaster psychology has been the prevention of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there has been a shift in recent years toward an equal focus on resiliency and positive adaptive outcomes for survivors (Kinzie & Edeki, 1998;Nicholl & Thompson, 2004).…”