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By JAY REEVES, Associated Press Writer Jay Reeves, Associated Press Writer 2
hrs 28 mins ago
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. Before the BP oil spill, the Gulf Coast was a place of
abundant shrimping, tourist-filled beaches and a happy if humble lifestyle.
Now, it's home to depression, worry and sadness for many.
A Gallup survey released Tuesday of almost 2,600 coastal residents showed that
depression cases are up more than 25 percent since an explosion killed 11
people and unleashed a gusher of crude into the Gulf in April that ruined many
livelihoods. The conclusions were consistent with trends seen in smaller
studies and witnessed by mental health workers.
People just aren't as happy as they used to be despite palm trees and warm
weather. A "well-being index" included in the Gallup study said many coastal
residents are stressed out, worried and sad more often than people living
inland, an indication that the spill's emotional toll lingers even if most of
the oil has vanished from view.
Margaret Carruth is among those fighting to hang on.
Her hairstyling business dried up after tourists stopped coming to the beach
and locals cut back on nonessentials like haircuts. All but broke and unable to
afford rent, Carruth packed her belongings into her truck and a storage shed
and now depends on friends for shelter.
"I'm a strong person and always have been, but I'm almost to the breaking
point," says Carruth.
The Gallup survey was conducted in 25 Gulf-front counties from Texas east to
Florida over eight months before and after the spill, ending Aug. 6. People
reported 25.6 percent more depression diagnoses after then spill than before
it, although the study didn't conclude the additional cases were tied directly
to the oil.
The survey said people along the Gulf reported feeling sad, worried and
stressed after the spill, while people living inland reported less over the
same period. More than 40 percent of people in coastal areas reported feeling
stress after the BP geyser blew, a 15 percent increase from before.
The oil spill followed waves of hard luck for the Gulf region, including
hurricanes and recession. Experts say it's impossible to determine how much of
the current mental health downturn could have roots in problems other than
crude washing into marshes and beaches, damaging the seafood and tourist
industries.
But an earlier study conducted in 13 counties and parishes with a total
population of 1.9 million showed that 13 percent of coastal adults from
Louisiana to Florida suffered probable serious mental illnesses after the
spill.
The level of mental illness was similar to that seen six months after Hurricane
Katrina decimated the coast five years ago, and experts aren't yet seeing any
improvement in mental health five months after the oil crisis began. Before
Katrina, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health said only 6 percent
of area residents had likely mental illnesses.
"From the types of patients we are seeing in our emergency departments, clinics
and hospitals, the problems are persisting," said William Pinsky of the New
Orleans-based Ochsner Health System, which conducted the random telephone
survey of 406 people in four states during the summer.
Sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, anger, substance abuse and domestic
violence are among the most common problems reported by mental health agencies.
BP has provided $52 million for mental health care in the Gulf region, with $15
million going to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; $12 million
each to the states of Alabama and Mississippi; $3 million to Florida; and $10
million to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
Even though the oil stopped flowing in July and the BP well was finally killed
this month, some officials say the toll on mental health may get worse as the
financial strains of summer persist into the fall.
"It's like a virus that's spreading," said Tonya Fistein, one of four
counselors hired by AltaPointe Health Systems specifically to help people deal
emotionally with the spill in Bayou La Batre, a tiny Alabama fishing community
hard hit by the disaster.
AltaPointe's clinic is seeing twice as many new patients as in 2009, an
increase it blames on the spill. In Gulfport, Miss., 42 percent of the patients
surveyed at the Gulf Coast Mental Health Center said they were sad or depressed
because of the spill.
Steve Barrileaux, a psychologist at the Gulfport center, said some of the
problems leading to mental health issues are obvious, like the loss of work by
a person who rented chairs on the beach. Others are more subtle.
Many people are deeply worried about the environment, for instance, or lament
the lost moments they would have spent fishing recreationally with loved ones.
Others are still afraid to eat seafood, even on the coast where livelihoods
depend on it.
"What's scary is the long-term damage that can be done, and we just don't know
about that," Barrileaux said.
Chanthy Prak frets constantly about how to make ends meet in the post-spill
world.
Prak worked in crab houses around Bayou La Batre before the oil hit. She and
her husband, another seafood worker displaced by the spill, have received only
$5,000 in claims payments since May to support them and their seven children.
"I worry. There's money going out but no money coming in," said the Cambodia
native.
In some areas, higher rates of mental problems appear to have little to do with
the oil.
At Lakeview Center, which provides mental health services in Pensacola, Fla.,
calls have increased to a crisis intervention line compared to 2009, but
relatively few people have mentioned the oil spill as the reason they need
help, said spokeswoman Karen Smith. Psychologists believe the uptick is most
likely linked to the recession, she said.
More oil came ashore just to the west of Pensacola in Baldwin County, Ala.,
however, and a survey conducted for the state by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found significant mental health problems that people
blamed on the spill.
Twenty-three percent of households in the area reported having at least one
person who blamed sleep troubles on the spill, and 11 percent had at least one
person with appetite loss. Perhaps most tellingly, 32 percent reported a
decrease in income linked to the oil spill, which could lead to additional
strain, said Dr. Charles Woernle, the state epidemiologist with the Alabama
Department of Public Health.
Officials along the Gulf Coast worry that many of the hardest-hit groups
shrimpers, Asian seafood workers and low-wage tourism employees won't seek
help for mental problems because of cultural taboos.
At AltaPointe, officials hope to use a share of the BP money to pay for
additional oil-spill counselors.
Tejuania Nelson, who runs a day-care center in fishing-dependent Grand Bay,
Ala., said preschoolers whose parents were left jobless because of the spill
are lashing out in unsettling ways.
"They're throwing desks, kicking chairs," she said. "It's sad. With this,
people do not have hope. They cannot see a better time."