Bestaat het postwatersnoodsyndroom?

In 1953, the South-Western parts of The Netherlands (particularly the province of Zeeland) were flooded. At the time, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not yet exist as a formal diagnosis. Research following more recent natural disasters has identified risk factors for the development of PTSD. These risk factors are applied as guidance for research into the circumstances around the 1953 floods. Risk factors such as lower socioeconomic status, pre-existence of psychiatric symptoms and limited support from the government were certainly present. Furthermore, some affected people were evacuated for an extended period of time, thereby abruptly extracting them from their established social networks. During oral history initiatives, many participants report reliving the experience and having nightmares. It is probable that a number of people affected by the 1953 floods developed symptoms of an illness that nowadays would have been diagnosed as PTSD.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.