LAC-MÉGANTIC, Que. – A survey suggests the trauma of the 2013 train disaster in Lac-Mégantic is still very much in the minds of the residents in the tiny Quebec community.
The survey done last fall suggests anxiety problems were twice as frequent in Lac-Mégantic as they were in the rest of the geographical region in which it is located.
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The report found psychological distress affected about one person out of three in Lac-Mégantic, compared with one out of five elsewhere.
The study also indicates that 67 per cent of Lac-Mégantic residents showed signs of moderate or severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder is virtually non-existent in the rest of the region.
A total of 16,000 people including 261 Lac-Mégantic residents were questioned for the survey.
Much of Lac-Mégantic’s downtown core was destroyed when a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded, killing 47 people.