DMH - Introduction

Tropical storms, tornadoes, fires, floods, earthquakes, transportation accidents, mass murders, hazardous material spills, building collapses, nuclear plant malfunctions, terrorist bombings, and many other disasters occur throughout our country each year. In the wake of these events lies a wide path of catastrophic physical and psychological destruction. Many seriously traumatized people can be found there, struggling to recover from their losses and rebuild their lives.

Disaster mental health (DMH) is a growing field of practice designed to help the victims (and the relief workers who rush to their aid), learn to effectively cope with the extreme stresses they will face in the aftermath of a disaster. The goal of DMH is to prevent the development of long-term, negative psychological consequences of a disaster such as the development of PTSD. Victims and relief workers will be changed by their encounters with disasters, but the majority of them will not be damaged by those experiences.

Few mental health professionals have received training in crisis intervention, advocacy, mediation, education, psychological first aid, defusing, and debriefing - the primary skills used for DMH intervention. Social workers, for example, are mandated to provide appropriate professional services in public emergencies (see the NASW Code of Ethics), yet few social workers have the specific training/skills needed to serve as relief workers. Many undergraduate and graduate programs in social work, psychology, counseling, nursing, and psychiatry spend little time (if any at all) teaching the critical prevention and crisis intervention techniques needed for relief work.

Once a disaster occurs, folks look at a lot of things in a different way than they did before. Prior to the event, people have an order to their lives and they feel like they are in command. In the days and weeks following the disaster, they often feel they no longer have control over anything - the event has caused unexpected losses and has taken away their normal routines. They will find themselves awash in a sea of paperwork and bureaucracy (relief agencies and services, insurance claims, etc.) that many refer to as the second disaster. They soon begin to realize it will be some time before they will regain their former sense of stability and control.

Faced with so many changes, people begin to react with fear, anger, anxiety, and depression - all normal stress reactions under the circumstances. DMH workers do not expect people to feel well in the wake of a disaster, yet the victims will expect themselves to "get over it" and to feel better quickly. When they don't, they suddenly begin to fear they're weak or they're going crazy. DMH workers need to provide opportunities for offering education about "normal" reactions, stress inoculation about routine challenges of recovery, and support.

I strongly urge all mental health professionals to learn more about DMH. Read about it and consider attending a workshop. Talk to others who are helping with the many volunteer organizations active in relief efforts. Explore the things folks are doing to prepare for disaster events that commonly occur in your area. Within the next several pages, I've provided readers with detailed material about DMH and about volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross. Simply click the appropriate link selection at the bottom of this page to view more information about these topics.

This copyrighted material is from: http://www.eyeofthestorminc.com

Disaster Mental Health: Introduction

People are always changed

by disasters and other traumatic

life events,

but they need not be damaged

by them.

John D. Weaver

Offering practical programs for workers in a chaotic world.

EYE OF THE STORM, Inc.

http://www.eyeofthestorminc.com