Question

Disasters and emergencies are stressful for many people including survivors, families, rescue workers, communities, etc. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2017), "When people experience a disaster, they may experience a variety of reactions, many of which are natural responses to difficult situations." Please answer the following questions: What are some mental health effects for emergency responders during a disaster? What are some mental health effects for individuals, families, and communities during a disaster? How would you include mental health in a disaster response plan? How do disasters impact children?

Answer 1

it has been observed that the survivors of the disasters would be faced with different forms of mental health problems. As a result, people carrying out disaster management should be taking care of the basic six Rs which are readiness, response, rehabilitation, recovery as well as resilience.

Disaster mental health services would be based on the principle of prevention. There is a shift in the paradigm where there would be usage of a multi dimensional approach. There is a predictable pattern in disaster relief, which would be in the form of heroic phase, honeymoon phase, disillusionment phase as well as restoration phase.

After a disaster, community members would be displaying altruistic behaviors where they would help in rescue, shelter as well as supporting the other members of the community. This is referred to as the heroic phase. Honeymoon phase is the one in which there would be media attention, vip camp visits etc. further, there ould be start of relief by the various agencies,.

Many people are are faced with trauma, as a result of post traumatic stress disorder. People would only feel safe if they receive calm and connected mental health support. People may be facing problems such as depression, alcoholism and even schizophrenia in some cases.

Some may include anxiety or may also indulge into substance abuse.

People may be crying, would be jumpy or on guard or may face insomnia or anger and even irritability. Also, they could be confused or dazed.

To have a proper recovery, it is requires that the team would assess the situation first, followed by provision of psychological first aid. The individuals should be taken to a to a clinical management, where they would receive care and their mental disorders or problems could be addressed. Further, there has to be a plan built for complete mental health recovery.