FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Quebec researchers have finished a survey on whether some residents of Fort McMurray have post-traumatic stress disorder following a wildfire this spring.
Psychology professor Genevieve Belleville says two of her research assistants are returning to Laval University in Quebec City after spending three weeks in the Alberta oilsands capital.
They conducted clinical interviews with about 50 residents and another 300 people completed an online questionnaire about their mental health.
More than 80,000 people were forced to flee the city when a voracious wildfire spread to the city in May and destroyed 2,400 homes and buildings.
Belleville says a preliminary look at the data shows many people have painful memories of the fire and evacuation and are suffering from insomnia and nightmares.
She says further analysis is needed to determine if they can be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the findings should be complete in the fall.
