Disaster Psychiatry: Intervening When Nightmares Come True captures the state of disaster psychiatry in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This emergent psychiatric specialty provides psychotherapeutic assistance to victims during, and in the weeks and months following, major disasters. Disaster psychiatrists must operate in the widely varying locales in which natural and man-made disasters occur, establishing their role among the chaotic array of organizations involved in direct disaster response.
Key Features
- Insights from psychiatrists who have encountered disasters at various stages of their career.
- Accounts of psychiatric involvement with adults and children during and after 9/11.
- Richly informative narratives about other domestic and international disasters.
- Delineation of challenges confronting disaster psychiatrists, including emotional responses and cultural contexts.
- Special attention to the needs of children whose parents are disaster victims.
Additional Information
Editors Anand Pandya and Craig Katz have captured the challenge and promise of disaster psychiatry through first-person narratives. These essays outline the intense emotional responses following disasters and the need to legitimise a psychiatric presence within diverse cultural and medical contexts. The subtle task of providing therapeutic boundaries at a time when all rules seem to be suspended is also addressed. What emerges from these testimonies is compelling documentation of skilled and compassionate psychiatrists at the outer limits of their practice.
