The Psychological Impacts of the BP Oil Spill on Coastal Communities of Florida and Alabama

The Psychological Impacts of the BP Oil Spill on Coastal Communities of Florida and Alabama

Introduction

Research on environmental stress focuses on individual stressors like pollution, noise, crowding etc. as well as complete settings; rural vs. urban, coastal vs. country side. This research paper summarizes the article 'The Early Psychological Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Florida and Alabama Communities' by Lynn M. Grattan and her co-researchers, published in Environmental Health Perspectives (volume 119) in June 2011. It analyses how oil spills affect the psychological state of the communities living in Florida and Alabama.

Summary of the Article

On April 20, 2010, BP's Gulf of Mexico oil platform exploded. The rig eventually sank, spilling about 5 million barrels of crude in the sea. 11 people lost their lives. The coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were worst affected resulting in serious damages to the marine ecology and fishing and tourism industries (www.bbc.co.uk). Lyn M. Grattan and her co-researchers attempted to find out the level of distress like depression and anxiety, methods of adjustment like coping, perceived risk and resilience to a community indirectly affected by the oil spill. Indirect impact may be explained as living in a place where oil did not pollute the coastline but significantly affected fishing and recreation industry.

Grattan and her colleagues used a participatory approach to determining the level of psychological distress. They studied Franklin County, Florida and Baldwin County, Alabama. These were the communities who were impacted indirectly and those facing a direct impact respectively. They further studied responses from people who reported no income loss vs. those who faced oil spill related income losses.

The researchers have empirical data to assert that participants from both groups displayed similar levels of psychological ...