Stress on Children's Development

In August 2005, a major disaster happened in New Orleans, Loiusiana it was called Hurricane Katrina.  My husband is a native of Louisana born and raised with many family members spread throughout the state including New Orleans.  In August 2005 his family was devastated by the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans and their home.  His sister Tonya and her three children ages 4-12 were sent to to the Superdome to ride out the storm, and were changed forever.  The devastation and the facts of assults ans sexual battery were true and all around.  She states their was no security in the building that could really help anyone and that once the storm actually approached land the lights went out and all hell broke loose.  Fortunately she stayed in a nearby opening in the hall but she said she could hear the cries and screaming of women being dragged and men fighting and children cying.  Somthing that was very hard to hear and hard for her to say.  My nieces and my one nephew do not talk about the devastation they experienced, losing their home and all their belongings, walking along the streets that were once familiar but now flooded with dead bodies.  Stranded for a day with no food or water helpless with my sister not being able to reassure them of anything but that they will be okay.  Our dad and their grandpa could not get to New Orleans for two days because of road damage and flooding but he was able to locate my sister on the third day and he stated he will never forget the frightening looks on all their faces as they cried and cried.  My nieces and nephew are not the same anymore.  Instead of their love for watersports and New Orleans they told my sister in law they wanted to stay in Alexandria where their was no large bodies of water to surround them.  The effects of that hurricane have taken everything that is "normal" to my nieces and nephew. The months of nightmares and anxirty they experienced even with family around was overwhelming for them.  They continue to experience nightmares every once in awhile waking up screaming in cold sweats, but they do not talk about their experience to anyone not even my sister in law.  My nieces and nephew are victims of a tragedy in which their innocence was taken away and the reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has set in..... In a survey of 2,362 children effected by Hurricane Katrina by LSU health systems that survey stated that children that were exposed to Hurricane Katrina, experienced severe symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. In fact, this study found that about half of the children experienced high levels of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms.  Once you take away the childlike elements of being a child and put real life trauma and situatations of adult like stress it takes away a part of the soul of the child no matter how resilant we think they are in the world.


I think after seeing my nieces and nephew and my fear of tornadoes that I experience as a child, the curiosity of the children of Japan and the tsunami also wanted me to find out more information on the stress they developed because of a natural disaster.  In reading the Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reaction the major concern for many parents was the psychological and emotional scars.  Since the events in Japan many doctors have seen more children for high rates of anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts, depression, and PTSD.  Many young children fear the causes of nuclear exposure and watching loved one die because of it.  I cannot imagine a young child thinking the only way to survive is potential death. 

My nieces and nephew are older now 11 all the way to their first year in college but the magnitude of that day and the events their after have not changed their quiet whispers among each other to letting the world know how they really are changed forever.