Investigating the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder among the survivors of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

Aim: Earthquakes are traumatic events that affect a significant number of people and can lead to serious psychological problems. For most people, acute reactions that occur after an earthquake are normal and decrease over time. Some affected individuals continue to experience psychological problems for a long time. In this study, we aim to investigate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder among survivors of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023. Method: Our sample consists of 335 earthquake survivors living in container cities in various districts of Malatya. Participants are volunteers between the ages of 18- 65 who experienced the February 6, 2023 earthquakes in Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Hatay. After the participants were informed about the content and purpose of our study and their consents were obtained; The Socio-Demographic Data Form was filled in and the Beck-Depression and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scales were applied. Results: 101 (30.15%) of the participants were male and 234 (69.85%) were female. The number of participants diagnosed with PTSD was 142. This number constitutes 42.39% of all participants. The number of participants diagnosed with depressive disorder was 108. This constitutes 32.24% of all participants. Of the 108 patients diagnosed with depression, 63 had mild depression, 40 had moderate depression, and 5 had severe depression. In our research, we found that post-traumatic stress disorder was more common in those with a history of mental illness, in those whose existing psychological complaints increased after the earthquake, in those who were left in the rubble, in those who died their relatives in the earthquake, in those who could not contact their relatives after the earthquake, in those who stayed in tent cities, in psychosocial support areas and in those who had financial losses. Beck Depression Scale is used in those who are divorced, those who have a history of mental illness, those who have a family history of mental illness, those who were trapped in the rubble, those who died relatives in the earthquake, those whose existing psychiatric complaints increased after the earthquake, those whose medical treatment dose was increased after the earthquake, those who could not contact their relatives, those who received psychosocial support and those who had financial losses. We found the score to be significantly higher. Conclusion: In our study, we found high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression diagnoses in earthquake victims living in temporary accommodation centers, similar to the literature. Again, in this study, we revealed that earthquake victims were psychologically affected by the earthquake at different levels according to their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. After earthquakes that have caused such devastating results, increasing the stock of solid buildings and being psychosocially prepared, considering the fact that we are an earthquake country, seems very important in terms of minimizing the damage that earthquakes will cause. Keywords: Earthquake, post-traumatic stress disorder, depressive disorder.