ABSTRACT
The study was conducted among rescue workers who served during Kerala floods 2018, to examine the depression, stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and quality of life. The sample included 1000 rescue workers. The study adopted a mixed research design with sequential explanatory method of data collection. Findings of the study revealed a positive intercorrelation between depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD and their negative correlation with quality of life. Certain demographic variables such as years of experience, marital status and sleeping hours were also found influential in determining the rates of depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD and quality of life among rescue workers. Thematic analyses results revealed five broad themes and fourteen sub-themes. The overarching themes included workplace stressors, traumatic experiences, pre and post disaster preparation and job satisfaction. Based on these findings of the study a model was proposed and found good fit. The model indicated that depression, anxiety, stress together can determine the quality of life of a person. The findings of current study will help to identify the categories of psychological responses to disaster, and thereby will help to develop interventions based on the level of mental health problems.
