Hungarian Red Sludge Disaster: Crisis Intervention and Aftercare

Authors

  • Annamária V. Komlósi v.komlosi.annamaria@ppk.elte.hu
    Department of Personality and Health Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella u. 46., H-1064 Budapest, Hungary
  • Júlia Richter Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Bölcsészettudományi Kar, Pszichológiai Doktori Iskola; Hungary
  • Sándor Rózsa Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, PPK Személyiség- és Egészségpszichológia Tanszék; Hungary
  • János Fodor Hungary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.10.2015.1.2

Keywords:

disaster, Hungarian red sludge/mud disaster, mental health, Complex Crisis Management System (CCMS), psychosocial interventions, resilience, social capital, disaster communication

Abstract

This paper intends to describe the Hungarian red sludge disaster and the lessons drawn from three years of psychosocial interventions applied to manage the crisis from immediate aftermath until this day. Conclusions will be discussed in the light of international crisis intervention protocols, with special emphasis on interventions supporting mental health, resilience, and strategies of communication. Our sources include 1. published documents of events, 2. reports and notes of volunteer psychologists, 3. results of two preliminary studies on the impacts of the disaster. As a practical implication of our study, we suggest the redefinition of the Crisis Management System (CMS) in Hungary into a Complex Crisis Management System (CCMS) where mental health professionals work in close cooperation with other experts of the interdisciplinary crisis management team, and where continuity is ensured between the different phases of relief work. Generally less emphasised psychosocial consequences of disasters are pointed out and suggestions for a new data collection method are also introduced in this study.

Published 2015-06-15

How to Cite

Komlósi, A. V., Richter, J., Rózsa, S., & Fodor, J. (2015). Hungarian Red Sludge Disaster: Crisis Intervention and Aftercare. European Journal of Mental Health, 10(1), 23–43. https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.10.2015.1.2