Psychiatrists and mental health professionals are responding to the emotional aftermath of the massive BP oil spill that disrupted the lives of thousands in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil that spilled out of BP's Macondo well fouled the waters and shores of the Gulf of Mexico, then disrupted lives and communities along a coastline already devastated by a cascade of disasters.
Many were still struggling to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Gustav in 2008 when the BP well blew up on April 20, killing 11 drilling-rig workers and spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf for the next three months. The blowout stunned the region's economy and stressed its residents psychologically.
Concern for contamination of fish and other seafood led to closing of some fishing grounds in the Gulf, crippling one of the region's major industries. Vacationers cancelled trips after seeing media reports of oil-soaked beaches. Fishermen, seafood processors, and resort workers found themselves without jobs for months, and perhaps longer.
Then the federal government's ban on oil drilling in the Gulf threw yet another segment of the economy out of work. Many people in the region work in both the oil and fishing industries and so were left with no way to pay their bills.
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