Even in Emergencies, Some People Just Won't Leave
Despite warnings, people still won't evacuate during emergencies.
Oct. 24, 2007 — -- Deciding whether to stay in their homes or evacuate is a choice many Californians have had to make this week as wildfires continue to ravage the state, leveling houses and displacing more than 500,000 residents.
And while many have dutifully followed authorities' orders and evacuated their homes and communities, there are still some people who are reluctant to do so.
Trauma specialists told ABCNEWS.com that individuals who decide to stay in their homes and attempt to protect it from the flames themselves are often those who struggle with overwhelming feelings of anxiety about the unknown.
"As I look at the fires, the thing that strikes me the most, is the lack of knowing, and how that lack of knowing spikes people's anxieties," said Russell Kormann, assistant director of the Rutgers University Anxiety Disorder Clinic. "Anticipatory anxiety is the worst kind of anxiety — there is nothing that anyone can say to convince these people that what they are worried about happening, won't, in fact, happen."
Anticipatory anxiety, Kormann explained, occurs when a person is worrying about an event that could potentially be life or property threatening — much like the California wildfires.
"The reason many people decide to stay is because they feel like it gives them better control," said Kormann. "It gives them the idea they are concerting more control than if they were in a motel, watching the event unfold on TV."
"Many people don't want to give up control, and they want to fight, even though they can't put the fire out themselves — it's temporarily empowering," said Todd Walker, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating trauma. "To be able to leave your home is to be able to tolerate the reality of uncertainty, and the loss of their home as they know it."
Denial also plays a role in people's decisions to stay in dangerous areas during natural disasters. People would rather stay and try to convince themselves that the fire could never reach them, Walker said, than actually face the reality of the situation.
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