Towards a better psychological understanding of catastrophes

The aim of this paper is to study the psychological effects of catastrophes and their coping strategies. First of all the concept of catastrophe is defined. Then, the psychological phenomena associated, such as collective panic, anxiety, stress, crisis, and posttraumatic stress are addressed. A predictive model about the risk of trauma in a catastrophe is proposed. We define the formation and motivation for achievement as an alternative approach to traditional theories. Cognitive and behavioral psychological strategies are proposed for the control and treatment of anxiety, personal crisis, stress, and posttraumatic stress during and after catastrophes. Finally, the concepts of placebo and nocebo are studied; we think these phenomena are very important to confront the live-stress events when a catastrophe happens.