Massive Mental Health Toll in Maui Wildfires: ‘They’ve Lost Everything’

August 22, 2023

(NPR) – Counselors here describe these early days of disaster mental health treatment as a kind of triage, psychological first aid for anguish that runs the spectrum of symptoms from deep sadness and sleeplessness to exhaustion, even breakdowns.

“They’ve lost family, they’ve lost their pets. They’ve lost everything,” says south Maui clinical social worker Debbie Scott. She says for some who had to flee the flames, the initial shock is now giving way to wrenching anxiety, nightmares, anxiety, depression and sometimes anger, as the depth of the trauma settles in. (Read More)