Impact of PTSD on Quality of Life and Subjective Well-Being of Peoples in Tsunami Affected Area at Pondicherry: A Comparative Study

Abstract

On December 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake off the west coast of Northern Sumatra in Indonesia with a Richter-scale magnitude of 9.0 caused a giant tsunami that devastated the shorelines of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and several other countries. In India the tsunami severely affected the coastal regions of the eastern state of Tamil Nadu, the union territory of Pondicherry, and the western state of Kerala. The tsunami had a huge human, physical, economic and social impact. Natural disasters like this have a negative impact on individuals‘ mental health. Not only do disaster survivors have an increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Norris FH, 2002) and other mental ailments (McFarlane AC, Papay P, 1992), but their quality of life may also be curtailed (Chou FH,2004; Heo JH, 2008; Tsai KY et al, 2007). The purpose of study was to analyze the impact of PTSD on quality of life and subjective well-being of peoples in tsunami affected area at Pondicherry through a comparison between affected and unaffected population. Sample of the present study include 260 subjects, 130 tsunami victims (F=60 & M=70) and 130 unaffected people (F=60 & M=70) aged between 25-40 years, who has been identified through the Posttraumatic Disorder Check List PCL (Weathers et al, 1993) from Pondicherry, India. That who are having the history of psychiatry disorders and who had death or other traumas in family in last 1 year is excluded from the victims group. Subjective wellbeing inventory (Diener et al, 1985) and WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to collecting data. The study found that there is significant difference between PTSD victims and unaffected people in quality of life and subjective well-being. PTSD had influenced in quality of life and subjective well-being of peoples of Pondicherry.