Behavioral Health in the Gulf Coast Region Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Findings from Two Federal Surveys

• Published in: The journal of behavioral health services & research Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 6 - 22
• Main Authors: Gould, Deborah W., Teich, Judith L., Pemberton, Michael R., Pierannunzi, Carol, Larson, Sharon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.01.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety - epidemiology; Behavioral psychology; Child; Coasts; Community and Environmental Psychology; Data collection; Depression - epidemiology; Disease control; Disease prevention; Drug abuse; Drug use; Female; Government agencies; Gulf of Mexico; Health care industry; Health Informatics; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health Psychology; Health services; Health surveillance; Health Surveys; Humans; Hurricanes; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Health; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Oil spills; Outdoor air quality; Petroleum Pollution; Polls & surveys; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychiatry; Public Health; Studies; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Surveillance; Trauma; United States; Young Adult; United States > US; Gulf Coast; Suicide Plan; Coastal County; Behavioral Health; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
• DOI: 10.1007/s11414-014-9441-8
• ISSN: 1094-3412

This article summarizes findings from two large-scale, population-based surveys conducted by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Gulf Coast region following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, to measure the prevalence of mental and substance use disorders, chronic health conditions, and utilization of behavioral health services. Although many area residents undoubtedly experienced increased levels of anxiety and stress following the spill, findings suggest only modest or minimal changes in behavioral health at the aggregate level before and after the spill. The studies do not address potential long-term effects of the spill on physical and behavioral health nor did they target subpopulations that might have been most affected by the spill. Resources mobilized to reduce the economic and behavioral health impacts of the spill on coastal residents—including compensation for lost income from BP and increases in available mental health services—may have resulted in a reduction in potential mental health problems.