[Redefining habitat and mental health of flood victims.]. / Redéfinition de l'habitat et santé mentale des sinistrés suite à une inondation.

During the July 1996 floods in the Saguenay area, many families lost everything : house, land and personal belongings. This disturbing situation forced many victims to let go of their home. A review of the literature has allowed to conclude that individuals develop profound feelings towards their homes and that its destruction entails disorganization as well as negative thoughts threatening their psychological equilibrium. With the objective of identifying the consequences of this disaster on the concept of home and mental health of victims, an exploratory study was realized during winter 1998 with 69 subjects having lost all their belongings. The data collected confirmed what has been raised in the scientific literature : many individuals have been profoundly scarred by this disaster on both levels of concept of home and psychosocial health. Two years following the disaster, nostalgia and disappointment are still present for most individuals who have been unable to find a new environment where they truly feel at home.

[Disaster victims of the 1996 Saguenay floods: problems experienced and psychological consequences.]. / Les sinistrés des inondations de 1996 au Saguenay : problèmes vécus et séquelles psychologiques.

The July 1996 Saguenay floods affected an important part of the region's population. Disasters of this nature subject victims to particularly difficult psycho-emotional experiences. From a qualitative study of the clinical analysis of 30 case history, this exploratory research describes the impact of this disaster on the lives of the victims and evaluates the consequences on their psychological health. Results indicate that this disaster has greatly disrupted the lives of victims entailing several problems as well as a deterioration of their mental health translating into serious psychological problems and disorders.

[Psychological and physical health of the July 1996 disaster victims: A comparative study between victims and non-victims.]. / L'état de santé psychologique et physique des sinistrés des inondations de juillet 1996 : étude comparative entre sinistrés et non sinistrés.

In July 1996, the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region suffered one of the greatest natural disasters in Québec's history. This article presents results of a study aiming at comparing, two years after the flood, the physical and psychological health condition of victims (n=177) to that of non-victims (n=168). The results indicate that victims, - regardless of their gender - present a psychological well-being as well as a post-disaster physical health that is different from non-victims. Disaster victims are much more numerous than non-victims in considering that their health is bad or average and in witnessing new health problems or the exacerbation of existing problems. Victims also present more manifestations of prosttraumatic stress and somatic complaints, have higher levels of depression, anxiety and social dysfunction than non-victims. However, no significant difference between subjects was revealed concerning severe depression. Results obtained corroborated that of other studies. After a natural or technological disaster involving important material damages to individual belongings, victims are more affected than non-victims concerning their psychological and physical health.