Summary: The catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused significant ecological and community damage. A series of complex economic, social, and mental-health impacts rapidly emerged as a significant source of distress for communities throughout the Northern Gulf Coast. As acute forms of social pathology, including suicides, became increasingly visible, researchers from the University of South Alabama implemented a peer listener-training program in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Based on a mitigation strategy developed in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the project team offered the program 26 times and trained over 600 peer listeners in 2010. As the impacts of the BP catastrophe persisted, the peer listener program provided a sociological practice intervention available to Gulf Coast communities for reducing community and mental health problems.
Project Dates: 2010
Lead Agency: University of South Alabama
Contact: J. Steve Picou
Focus Area(s): Health, Stress & Mental Health
State(s): Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi
Return to Human Impacts Research Database
