Hurricane Maria’s legacy: Thousands of Puerto Rican students show PTSD symptoms

PBS ^ | 04/27/2019

[cll]

Food shortages, damaged homes, fear of death, loved ones leaving. The cumulative stresses of Hurricane Maria contributed to thousands of schoolchildren developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in Puerto Rico, according to a study published Friday.

The study in JAMA Network Open found that 7.2% of the students reported “clinically significant” symptoms of PTSD. More girls tended to show signs of PTSD than boys.

Researchers surveyed 96,108 public school students five to nine months after the 2017 hurricane. The cohort included youth in third through 12th grades across different regions of the island.

That just speaks to how big Maria was, how destructive Maria was island-wide. And it didn’t matter what your income was or your location was on the island — you were affected.

The Puerto Rico Department of Education — which partnered with the Medical University of South Carolina for this study — is using the data to target areas with the greatest need for mental health services, the study said.

[100American]

I understand what you are saying, the “expected” rates of PTSD are lower than those in similar situations

OK, we get that

But I have also followed this issue for a long time and the reporting of politically driven theft and blocking of aid provided are scandalous. I would ask you has any aid been provided, i looked into it and there were several articles about bills in congress providing Billions in loans to PR.
Are you intimating that PR has been cut off and no aid has come forth?
Certainly anyone who has faced natural disasters of this type as well as others like Earthquakes etc. will have some recovery time. If I take your post at face value then it points to the resilience of the people there with a lower incidence of PTSD.

Great, and the nature of the people there being more family oriented even though the number of people that have departed rather than subject themselves to future storms which have been occurring in that area for centuries

So what is the outcome of this study that you hope for that has not occurred to this point? Are you seeking further aid to help rebuild PR beyond what has already been sent or provided? If so what are you and the other citizens of the island prepared to do to fire the officials who have subjected you to graft and misappropriation of funds already provided...

Please, I ask in honesty what is it you are looking for?

[Seruzawa]

Mire of the PTSD scam.

[cll]

I’m not looking for anything. I have been yelling to the four winds since the storms of 2017 - as I am a witness, being here during and after - that the federal aid has been massive and more than sufficient. Way more.

This study looks in the long term needs for recovery, not the immediate emergency for which it is getting confused.

The only reason to post this article was to highlight a positive outcome to further debunk the perceived victim mentality that we are always accused of. I KNOW that the population here performed admirably in the immediate and mid-term aftermath of the disaster. But YOU and most others don’t know that. You just know what the media tells you, and I am trying to correct that.

[cll]

And to address your question about “politically driven theft and blocking of aid provided are scandalous”, that’s also a media-driven fantasy.

Yes, one PR government after the other have been either corrupt or incompetent, or both and we have replaced each one of them - over the last 20 years no government has been reelected.

But during and after these storms there have been very few and localized instances of graft. Certainly not generalized theft as is your perception. President Trump fears that history will repeat itself and I understand his caution. Hell, most people here agree with him at least on that count!

But no, I have not seen anything other than petty opportunism by some obscure official or the other. Nothing to the scale that you protest.

[100American]

Thank you for your response, my perceptions are more questions that acceptance of whatever is put on the media as fact.

So I ask now how can You and the fellow citizens get things back on track and I hope never again put in office those who seek to enslave you

Honest question, I seek to understand not degrade, I have many friends and classmates from Puerto Rico and bear them nor you any ill will.

[Chode]

she was soooo hot...

[gleeaikin]

This hurricane was so severe that they were UNABLE to be prepared. Same for the folks in Texas with 40 and 50 inches of rain and the folks in the Carolinas, or the Sandy sufferers. I don’t know how old you are but at 80 years with a strong interest in the weather since youth, and experience living on the East Coast and the Middle West, I have definitely seen a trend toward more severity in weather phenomena. The weather is changing and whether it is anthropogenic or natural sources, we need to take precautionary measures. A number of our Naval bases throughout the world are at weather risk as are many seacoast cities as well. Hope you live in a safe area and never need help. Eskimos are going to develop PTSD as their homes are being washed away and the permafrost melts. They won’t be able to live along the coast, and it will be very difficult to build in many areas where permafrost now creates firm ground to build on.