UPDATE 8-16-10: After months of virtual silence about mental health complaints among Gulf coast residents since the spill shook up lives -- and their way of life -- BP has announced they will fund mental health services to the tune of $52 million. Here's the Pro Publica story with the details. Children were a special focus of a Columbia University Mailman School of Medicine study (see PDF in Pro Publica article). One of the chief researchers, Dr. Irwin Redlener, had this to say to NPR (8-10-10):
"The medical side [regarding children] included very severe rashes, or coughing or wheezing that was otherwise unexplained -- and then a host of psychological consequences which included depression, difficulty sleeping and a variety of other problems that these children were expressing. Even 9-year-old children were talking about their way of life being over. That was a pretty hair-raising experience, to hear so many young people talk about the end of a way of life."
More below the fold.
