In their own words: disaster and emotion, suffering, and mental health

ABSTRACT

Purpose: In this article, I explore emotions, trauma, and mental health issues residents experienced after tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Methods: The research is based on 162 interviews and fieldwork from 2013-2015. I draw from literature on social suffering and trauma to ask how experiencing mental health and trauma changes how people make sense of their social worlds. Results: I discuss four common themes: 1. Emotions in immediate aftermath, 2. Relationship strain, 3. Mental health problems, and 4. Emotions in long-term recovery.  Throughout the article, I pay attention to the bodily experiences of suffering and trauma. Conclusion: I argue experiencing mental health and suffering may be a critical perspective—one that can shed light on being in the world in ways that other perspectives may be less suitable to do.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion
• mental health problems
• disaster recovery
• social suffering
• trauma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. All the official definitions for these mental health problems can be found in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-5.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences [1518862].