Emergency Relief to the Disaster Survivors - Essay Example

of the English of the Teacher 4 April Mental Health Services Need to be an Integral Aspect of Emergency Relief Extended to theDisaster Survivors There is no denying the fact that natural disaster do tend to cause immense suffering and harm to the humanity. Disasters not only wreck havoc on the normal life in the areas they strike, but also lead to much loss of life and causalities. The other sad thing about disasters is that they hit the relief set up and the availability of basic amenities and necessities in the impacted areas, thereby leaving the job of providing relief to the people in the disaster hit areas to the relief agencies like the Red Cross. For instance, the Red Cross that was founded in 1919 has been extending relief and aid to the disaster hit areas for almost over a century. However, the primary mindset that has traditionally governed the relief efforts made by the relief agencies is to extend medical assistance and supply basic necessities like food, medicines, clothing, drinking water and shelter to the disaster survivors. It would not be wrong to say that hitherto the relief efforts made by the relief agencies tended to focus on the external needs of the disaster survivors. The relief agencies till very recent times totally ignored the mental distress and the resultant mental health issues faced by the disaster survivors. For example it was only in 1989 that the Red Cross recognized the need for extending mental health services to the survivors in the disaster hit areas. Many government agencies and the policy makers deployed in important relief agencies believe that the visible and material needs and requirements of the people in the disaster hit areas should take precedence over the less obvious aspects such as the mental trauma and distress faced by them. However, this approach towards disaster relief is utterly narrow and short sighted. Ignoring the mental health needs of the survivors in the disaster hit areas is indeed callous and in a way cruel. Disasters by their very nature happen to be instances that not only jeopardize the set way of life of the people in an area, but that also lead to the loss of the loved one’s and personal homes and possessions, acute physical injuries and physical trauma, and a total shattering of the social moral (McFarlane & Williams 1). Hence, a disaster is bound to cause much psychological and emotional distress to a significant proportion of the survivors in any impacted area. Hence, mental health services need to be an integral aspect of the relief extended to the survivors in the disaster hit areas so as to help the survivors cope up with the trauma and distress experienced by them, to psychologically assist the volunteers deployed in such areas and to boost the overall community moral (McFarlane & Williams 1). First and foremost, it is really humane and good to provide relief to the survivors in the disaster hit areas because they constitute a human population that needs maximum outside assistance and help. Thereby, the first task before any practical minded relief agency is to provide the disaster survivors with the best possible medical help and the fundamental supplies required by them, which includes medicines, food, drinking water, clothing and shelter. However, any attempt to extend relief to the survivors in the disaster hit areas must be broad based and must take into consideration all the difficulties and issues faced by the disaster survivors. Thereby, to save and protect the body of the disaster survivors while keeping a blind eye to the mental trauma and anguish faced by them will be really impractical. Hence, the relief agencies must acknowledge the mental shock and distress experienced by the disaster survivors and must also make efforts to provide them with the required mental health services in a timely manner (Brozan 1). This not only goes a long way in allowing the disaster survivors to physically and mentally recover from the damage done by a disaster, but also assures that the psychological issues faced by the disaster do not degenerate into serious ailments owing to a lack of timely help and assistance (Brozan 1). Hence, the need of the hour is that the disaster relief agencies should become more sensitive and humane in their overall approach and make all the possible effort to extend the much needed mental health services to the survivors in a disaster hit area. The survivors of disasters happen to be individuals and groups that tend to face much loss and deprivation and hence do deserve to get all possible types of help and assistance. It is the duty of the agencies and groups managing relief efforts in the disaster hit areas to give due consideration to the psychological injuries born by the disaster survivors. Once the basic premise that any viable disaster relief effort should be broad based and must accept the mental health issues faced by the disaster survivors, it is really not difficult to grasp the factors that give way to psychological issues and distress in the disaster survivors. The one bad thing about a disaster is that it significantly if not completely destroys the life that the disaster survivors happened to cherish. The biggest havoc played by a disaster is that it inevitably leads to the loss of the human life. Thereby the disaster survivors who loose friends, family members and pets to a disaster have to bear with the grief of losing them. The very loss of friends and loved ones drastically alters the lives of the disaster victims. They do feel hurt and helpless. Thereby, as per the social work website Help-Starts-Here, “the process of mourning the loss and healing the emotional wounds from the death of someone generally takes at least one year and, in many cases, it may continue for several more years (Help Starts Here 1). The disaster survivors facing the death of a near or dear one may have to bear with the feelings of extreme loss and helplessness. The other thing is that the mourning and grief experienced by the disaster survivors further gets complicated by the additional issues they have to face like the loss of property and health and the need to go on with life. Besides, the traditional support systems that the disaster survivors could have otherwise relied on to deal with their grief get destroyed by the impact of the disaster. Thereby, the disaster survivors do need the help of psychiatric experts and counsellors to help them deal with the grief experienced by them. Any failure to extend the much needed mental health services to the disaster survivors who have lost loved ones may lead to lasting emotional wounds and later life complications. This stands to be truer in case of the disaster survivors who happen to be more vulnerable like the children and teenagers. The loss of a loved one may lead to a range of psychological and emotional complications like guilt, depression, trauma, shock, anger and feelings of acute helplessness (Help Starts Here 1). Thereby the presence of mental health specialists and experts at the disaster sites could play a crucial role in helping the disaster survivors’ deal with their feelings of guilt. Though the loss of friends and loved ones happens to be the most painful loss experienced by the disaster survivors, yet, it no way happens to be the only loss born by them. Disaster survivors bear with multiple losses and the loss of property and personal possessions is one major loss that the disaster survivors have to deal with. Thereby, many a times the disaster survivors may lose the only shelter they had over their head. This not only causes the emotional pain of losing a place that they so closely related to and felt a sense of belonging for, but it also leads to the shock of being without a roof, totally helpless and at the mercy of the help extended by others (Saleh 519). It is really possible for any individual to be able to guess as to how it feels being without a house that one cherished and associated with on intimate terms for such a long time. This could certainly give way to much pain and grief. Things get even more complicated if the loss of property is accompanied by the loss of liquid assets to fire or flood that one could have relied on to sustain one’s family and oneself. This may get more complicated if one has young children, infants and the aged and the sick to take care of. As per The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, “Losing one’s property and home could lead to depression and elevated levels of distress, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCTSN 1).” Thereby, the grief, shock and trauma associated with the loss of property that the disaster survivors have to deal with is not merely about the deprivation of the basic survival needs. It is a fact that the disaster hit families, “face more problems, such as where they will find immediate shelter, food, water, money, sufficient clothing, and permanent housing (NCTSN 1).” Still, it is also about the loss of all the material things that happened to be closely associated with the memories of the disaster survivors and that extended to them a sense of identity. This could indeed turn out to be psychologically really demanding. Many a disaster survivors may not be able to deal with such psychological issues without the right kind of mental health assistance and may develop serious conditions. It may get really frustrating and emotionally demanding for the families to deal with the relief agencies and insurance services, at a time when they are really vulnerable and threatened. The cumulative stress involved in the after disaster adjustments such as evacuating the risk prone structures and areas, being displaced and relocated to different locations, and attempting to rebuild one’s life, sometimes right from a scratch could be immense. Under such trying circumstances, the role of mental health agencies is indeed indispensable and important. Mental health relief extended at the right time may prevent many disaster survivors from succumbing to the emotional stress and trauma accompanying a disaster and my give them the emotional strength to move on. Once due consideration is given to the psychological issues associated with the loss of the loved one’s and the material possessions, one simply cannot ignore the psychological aspects of getting badly injured in a disaster or losing a limb or a body part. Disasters by their very nature not only cause death and destruction, but do leave a significant section of the impacted populations physically hit and damaged. It does not need to be repeated time and again that the psychological issues faced by disaster survivors need to be seen in the light of the cumulative emotional impact of a range of associated issues. Thereby, being gravely injured or ill at a time when the only world one knew lies shattered and destroyed could indeed be shocking. This distress may get further get aggravated by the lack of the material resources required to support one’s medical treatment or a lack of the requisite insurance cover. This emotional agony further gets accentuated in case of those survivors who end up losing a limb. As per an article published in the leading journal Social Work Today, “Life after limb loss requires preparation for multiple transitions of mind, body and spirit. Social workers use their expertise in identifying and connecting patients with resources to assist and support them through the challenge (Getz 18).” Hence, the loss of a limb and the following loss of physical mobility may leave a survivor physically and emotionally oppressed with a sense of incompleteness. Besides, such instances happen to be extreme in their nature and scope and the impacted disaster survivors usually lack the experience and the support to be able to deal with them. No doubt, in the case of such survivors, the additional mental health assistance is of prime importance and necessity. Any attempt to physically heal such disaster survivors without providing the required psychological support could be counterproductive and tragic. There exists a significant body of opinion in the disaster management agencies and relief agencies that holds that the scarce resources available for extending relief to the disaster hit areas should be invested on achieving concrete objectives. In other words these experts believe that providing the disaster survivors with medical help and the required necessities like food, clothing and shelter qualify to be termed as concrete objectives. They believe that the psychological issues faced by the disaster survivors could not be quantified and hence providing them with the mental health assistance is a vague objective. Such experts belong to the old school of thought that ignored the psychological problems faced by the disaster survivors. They need to acknowledge the fact that mental issues are as much an aspect of health and medical assistance as physical illnesses and injuries. They also need to recognize the varied emotional losses born by the disaster survivors. Hence, mental health services extended to disaster victims are no way wastage of scarce resources. There are also people who believe that instead of spending money on financing the mental health treatment of a few disaster survivors, such money should be used on building communities and neighbourhoods and ought to be invested on building the much needed infrastructure in the disaster hit areas. It is indeed sad to come across such views, not only because they happen to be selfish and callous in their approach, but also because they also show much ignorance. The thing that needs to be understood is that communities and neighbourhoods are not merely about concrete structures, but they also include the spirit and moral of the people that inhabit such communities. Thereby any practical attempt at reconstruction should also consider reviving the sunken spirit and moral of the disaster hit communities. This could only be done by addressing the psychological and mental health issues faced by the disaster hit people and communities. Any relief effort that fails to recognize this will be incomplete and counterproductive. Hence, one cannot deny the fact that to begin with, providing the disaster hit people with the obvious medical assistance and material help needed by them is indeed important and vital. However, the relief efforts should not limit themselves to this only. They need to recognize the fact that disaster survivors do get hit by multiple losses that do take a tool of their coping abilities and mental health. This includes bearing with the loss of friends and loved ones, getting over the loss of property and material possessions and dealing with the loss of health and sometimes limbs and body parts. Such, multiple challenges do require prompt and appropriate mental health assistance. A failure to do so may leave disaster hit areas prone and vulnerable to mental disorders. Thereby, mental health services ought to be an intimate aspect of the relief extended to the disaster survivors. Works Cited Brozan, Nadine. “Emotional Effects of Natural Disasters”. The New York Times 27 June 1983. Web. 4 April 2014. < http://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/27/style/emotional-effects-of-natural-disasters.html>. Getz, Lindsey. “Transitional Care after Limb Loss: Boston Marathon Survivors Navigate Change”. Social Work Today 13.5 (2013): p. 18. Web. 4 April 2014. < http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/091613p18.shtml>. Help Starts Here. Sudden Death in Disasters and Accidents: A Guide to Survival for Family Members and Friends. 29 January 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. < http://www.helpstartshere.org/mind-spirit/grief-and-loss/grief-and-loss-tip-sheet-sudden-death-in-disasters-and-accidents-a-guide-to-survival-for-family-members-and-friends.html>. McFarlane, A.C., & Williams, Richard. “Mental Health Services Required after Disasters: Learning from the Lasting Effects of Disasters”. Depression Research and Treatment (2012): n. pag. Web. 4 April 2014. < http://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/2012/970194>. Saleh, Mahmoud A. “Disasters and Crises: Challenges to Mental Health Counselling in the 21st Century”. Education 116.4 (1996): 519-524. Print. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Residential Fires. NCTSN. 2014. Web. 4 April, 2014. < http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/natural-disasters/fires/residential-fires>. Read More