Climate Change Disasters have unexpected psychological consequences

Six years after Katrina residents still have three times the risk of heart attack. The psychosocial impact of Climate Destabilization has been underestimated.

Higher Heart Attack Rates Continue 6 Years After Katrina

New Orleans residents continue to face a three-fold increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina -- a trend that has remained unchanged since the storm hit in 2005,...

... this heightened risk persists even though post-Katrina patients are more likely to be prescribed medications known to prevent heart attacks such as aspirin, beta blockers, statins and ACE inhibitors. Compared to the pre-Katrina group, those experiencing a heart attack after the storm were less likely to comply with these therapies or have health insurance. They were also more likely to smoke, overuse alcohol or other substances, and be burdened with high levels of stress and mental illness. "Overwhelmingly, the main differences in the pre- and post-Katrina populations involve psychosocial risk factors...

"These findings have broad implications about how natural disasters affect communities, as well as the extensive costs to society, whether it is financial or social."

... the evidence supports an association between pervasive levels of chronic stress and heart health ...

"Large-scale catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina seem to create a very large shift in the population and the way it behaves and takes care of itself," ...

"The massive devastation of Hurricane Katrina has broken the infrastructure of New Orleans, and its effects are much more far-reaching than we expected,"... [emphasis mine]