PSYCHOLOGICAL SEQUELAE OF MOUNTAIN ACCIDENTS - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

Studies of the victims of road traffic accidents and of violent crime have shown that a significant minority continue to display mood disord ers and posttraumatic symptoms one year later; however, few studies ha ve been conducted on victims of other kinds of accident. Thirty-one su bjects admitted to hospitals after a mountain accident in the Scottish Highlands were followed up at 3-month intervals over 9 months to dete rmine the prevalence of psychological sequelae; a variety of questionn aires were used to measure mood and other psychological effects, A lar ge minority experienced at least mild depression and other negative co nsequences at follow-up, despite relatively minor physical injuries; s ubjects who experienced intrusive thoughts and avoidance of accident-r elated phenomena demonstrated the least recovery.