Disaster Psychology

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Disaster Psychology

• Critical Incident Stress Management

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Unit Objectives

• Psychological impacts to expect after a disaster.
• Helping people deal with the psychological
  impacts.

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Are we psychologically prepared?
For every physical injury, there may be 5-6
psychological injuries
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If Id only had the psychobabble then for what I
have now.
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Critical Incident

• A critical incident is any situation that causes
  a person to experience unusually strong emotional
  reactions which have the potential to interfere
  with their ability to function on the scene or
  later.

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Honeymoon (community cohesion) Survivors may be
elated and happy just to be alive This phase
will not last
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Disillusionment Reality of disaster hits home
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Mediating Factors

• Prior experience with a similar event
• The intensity of the disruption in the survivors
  lives
• The emotional strength of the individual
• The length of time that has elapsed between the
  event occurrence and the present

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Traumatic Stress

• Traumatic stress may affect
• Cognitive functioning
• Physical health
• Interpersonal reactions

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Possible Psychological Symptoms

• Irritability, anger
• Self-blame, blaming others
• Isolation, withdrawal
• Fear of recurrence
• Feeling stunned, numb, or overwhelmed
• Feeling helpless
• Mood swings
• Sadness, depression, grief
• Denial
• Concentration, memory problems
• Relationship conflicts/marital discord

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Possible Physiological Symptoms

• Loss of appetite
• Headaches, chest pain
• Diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea
• Hyperactivity
• Increase in alcohol or drug consumption
• Nightmares
• Inability to sleep
• Fatigue, low energy

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Reducing Stress

• Get enough sleep
• Exercise
• Eat a balanced diet
• Balance work, play, and rest
• Allow yourself to receive as well as give
• Connect with others
• Use spiritual resources
• Allow yourself to laugh and cry

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Stabilizing Individual

• Assess the survivors for injury and shock.
• Get uninjured people involved in helping.
• Provide support by
• Listening
• Empathizing
• Help survivors connect with natural support
  systems.

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Avoid Saying . . .

• I understand.
• Dont feel bad.
• Youre strong/Youll get through this.
• Dont cry.
• Its Gods will.
• It could be worse or At least you still have .
  . .

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DO SAY Can you tell me what happened? Im
Sorry This must be difficult for you Im here
to be with you
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Team Well-Being

• CERT team leaders should
• Provide pre-disaster stress management training
• Brief personnel before response
• Emphasize teamwork
• Encourage breaks
• Provide for proper nutrition
• Rotate
• Phase out workers gradually
• Conduct a brief discussion
• Arrange for a post-event debriefing

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Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
CAUTION Group should include ONLY those people
who experienced the critical incident together.

• Six phases
• Introduction and a description
• Review of the factual material
• Sharing of initial thoughts/feelings
• Sharing of emotional reactions to the incident
• Instruction about normal stress reactions
• Review of the symptoms
• Closing and further needs assessment

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Any Questions?