By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com, March 30, 2020
A combination of stress, trauma and depression triggered by the coronavirus pandemic after the virus abates is likely to increase what’s already a high number of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among Louisiana residents, who have been hammered by natural and man-made disasters in the past, according to a behavioral epidemiologist at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health.
Associate professor Ariane Rung bases that conclusion in part on a 2019 study she co-authored that found that women in mostly rural areas of seven southeastern Louisiana parishes continued to experience symptoms of trauma and PTSD for years after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill at levels greater than the national average.
That research found that 12.7% of women in the study scored at or above symptom levels associated with PTSD, compared to previous studies estimating nationwide prevalence rates of only 3.1% for men and 5.3% for women.
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