Psychological State Before, During, and After Hurricane Maria

• In Event: Participatory Action Research as Site of Student Agency, Social Transformation, and Resistance in Puerto Rico

Abstract

The issue of mental health in Puerto Rico is something that becomes invisible on the island, since vulnerability is not recognized. The objective of this research is to recognize what were the negative psychological effects caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Ricans. Our research work consists of nine interviews with Puerto Ricans, who went through the experience of Hurricane Maria. Some participants come from different towns/sectors of the island, but something that identifies them is that each one of them lived the experience of such a devastating hurricane. We chose these participants because it was essential that they were people who had lived through the event since they could provide relevant answers to our research; Although there is some variation in ages, each one has in common that they are Puerto Ricans who were before, during and after Hurricane Maria. Other methods used are "field notes" created during the interviews; these notes are subjective to what we consider to be important points about the information. The purpose of these interviews is to make mental problems in Puerto Rico visible and seek a solution to the causes that lead Puerto Ricans to act as situations pass. At the end of the nine interviews, you can see similarities and differences in the way each one lived through the so catastrophic event of Hurricane Maria. Data collection was carried out through nine semi-structured interviews with different Puerto Ricans between the ages of 20-75 years, the majority being students. We investigated the experiences of each of the interviewees regarding their life before, during and after Hurricane Maria.
The results of this research showed that the greatest impact, in terms of mental health, was during the months after the hurricane. As most of the participants mention, the despair of seeing that nothing was back to normal and that the basic necessities -water, electricity, food, etc.- were scarce, created a collective hysteria and a great trauma in the Puerto Rican community. The Puerto Rican people have not yet overcome the adversities that Hurricane María brought. During the investigation we were able to observe how there are still people who have not recovered mentally or psychologically after this natural disaster. In recognition of our observations, there are numerous people in need of professional psychological help, which is not recognized as it is a taboo subject, therefore, it is time to take action and start working on this situation on the island.

Author

• Genesaret Flores Roque, University of Puerto Rico - Cayey