Deprem ve Yaşlılık: Psikososyal Bir Bakış

Öz

Depremler, günümüzde dünya çapında en çok ölüme, ciddi yaralanmaya ve uzuv kaybına neden olan doğal afetlerdir. Etkileri toplumlar için yüksek ekonomik kayıplara ve maliyetlere neden olan, kaçınılmaz, zamansız, yıkıcı etkileri olan en önemli doğa olaylarından biri olarak insanlığı ve farklı coğrafyalardaki birçok toplumu medeniyet tarihi boyunca derinden etkilemiş ve etkilemeye devam etmektedir. Geçmişte yaşanan depremlerin tarihsel etkilerinin izlerinin halen görülebildiği ülkemiz, yakın gelecekte yeni bir deprem olgusuyla yeniden yüzleşmek zorunda kalmıştır. Deprem nedeniy-le travmalar yaşamaya devam eden toplumumuz gelecekte de depremle birlikte yaşamayı öğren-mek zorundadır. Deprem, başta deprem bölgesindeki bireyleri olmak üzere toplumun hemen he-men tamamını olumsuz etkilemekle birlikte, yol açtığı sosyo-ekonomik sorunlar ve ruh sağlığı sorunlarıyla özellikle savunmasız bireyleri, öncelikle de engelliler, çocuklar ve yaşlılar gibi toplum gruplarını daha şiddetli ve olumsuz etkiler. Toplumun bu kırılgan grupları, toplumun geneli gibi sosyal sınıf, meslek, etnik köken, cinsiyet, engellilik, sağlık durumu, yaş ve göçmenlik durumu gibi değişkenlere bağlı olarak doğal afetlerden farklı düzeylerde etkilenir. Toplumların küresel ölçekte dönüşen demografik yapısının kaçınılmaz sonucu olarak, nüfusun giderek artan bir bölümünü oluşturan yaşlı yetişkinler doğal afetlerin ani ve beklenmeyen etkilerine karşı en savunmasız grup-lar arasında yer almaktadırlar. Yaşlı nüfusun hızla arttığı ülkemizde, yaşlı popülasyonun depreme bağlı ruh sağlığı sorunlarının da ayrıcalıklı bir şekilde ele alınması güncel bir zorunluluktur. Bu bakış açısıyla, çalışmamızda bir doğa olayı olarak depremin insan yaşamı üzerindeki etkileri kısaca ele alınacak, yaşlılığın genel özelliklerine değinilecek, sonrasında depremin kırılgan toplum grupla-rından biri olan yaşlı bireyler üzerinde yol açabileceği psiko-sosyal sorunlara odaklanılarak ve yaşlıların bu sorunları deneyimlememelerine yönelik önerilerde bulunulacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Doğal afet
• Yaşlı
• Deprem ve Yaşlı
• yaşlılar ve psiko-sosyal sorunlar

Earthquake and Elderly: A Psychosocial Perspective

Öz

Earthquakes are natural disasters that cause the most deaths, serious injuries and loss of limbs worldwide today. As one of the most important natural events with inevitable, untimely and de-structive effects, which cause high economic losses and costs for societies, it has deeply affected humanity and many societies in different geographies throughout the history of civilization and continues to affect it. Our country, where the traces of the historical effects of the earthquakes in the past can still be seen, had to face a new earthquake phenomenon in the near future. Our society, which continues to experience traumas due to the earthquake, has to learn to live with the earth-quake in the future. While the earthquake negatively affects almost all of the society, especially the individuals in the earthquake area, it affects especially vulnerable individuals, especially the disa-bled, children and the elderly, more severely and negatively, with the socio-economic problems and mental health problems it causes. These vulnerable groups of the society are affected by natu-ral disasters at different levels depending on variables such as social class, occupation, ethnicity, gender, disability, health status, age and immigration status, as well as the general society. As an inevitable result of the changing demographic structure of societies on a global scale, older adults, who constitute an increasing part of the population, are among the most vulnerable groups against the sudden and unexpected effects of natural disasters. In our country where the elderly popula-tion is increasing rapidly, it is a current necessity to deal with the mental health problems of the elderly population due to earthquakes in a privileged way. From this point of view, in our study, the effects of the earthquake as a natural event on human life will be briefly discussed, the general characteristics of old age will be mentioned, then by focusing on the psychosocial problems that the earthquake may cause on the elderly, one of the vulnerable social groups, and suggestions will be made for the elderly not to experience these problems.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Natural disaster
• elderly
• earthquake and elderly

Kaynakça

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