Disaster and Post-Traumatic Experiences Essay

Millions of people in different parts of the world are affected by disasters every year. Some of the natural disasters including earthquakes, floods, fire tornados, and tsunami have devastating effects in that they destroy homes and peoples' lives. Human beings have little or no control over such happening when they occur. The people left behind after such events face significant economic losses, injuries and even death of loved ones including friends and family members (Dillard, 2017). When such disasters occur, the victims become stressed, and their lives altered for good. Living through the destruction of an individual's livelihood can impact significantly on the mental status of such a person causing physiological effects and social disruption (Veenema, 2013). Depending on the extent to which the losses occur, the results can lead to physiological disorders including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and engagement in high-risk and addictive behaviors.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Those who experience post-traumatic experiences shows different signs including arousal symptoms, moody symptoms and avoidance. They also experience anxiety which can come in various forms including generalized anxiety and panic disorders Anxiety is the most common physiological effects of disasters (Dillard, 2017). Symptoms of stress include difficulty in sleeping, fatigue, muscle pains and always feeling afraid. Those experiencing depression as a physiological effect of disaster also experiences lingering restlessness and sadness, concentration issues and difficulties in having a good sleep.

People with psychological needs require care. The care they receive most of the time comes from primary healthcare providers. In providing adequate care for such patients, primary health care providers should carry out screening for mental health issues. The process incorporates behavioral health screening and screening for depression and subsistence use more so for pregnant and perinatal women. A primary health care provider should also do an assessment and furnish care to patients with mild or moderate mental disorders. Those whose severe mental disorders are stable should also be incorporated. In providing the needed care, strong working linkage between the primary care provider and the patient should also be the priority. Critical information which provides for previous and current medical data should be shared to enhance proper engagement and treatments.

Some of the anticipated needs of such patients include the need for safety and the needs to belong. The victim needs to feel safe and that such a disaster will never occur to them again. They need an assurance that they are safe and protected at all times. The need to belong or social support also plays a significant role in the lives of such victims. Long-term support plays a critical role in reducing stress among the victims of calamities and disaster (Veenema, 2013). When doing the assessments, the universal screenings and case finding evaluation should be used as these have the highest probability of giving concrete and positive results.

Effective Management of Transitions, Grief, and Stress. When the disaster occurs, it leaves victims in disarray. Their lives become shattered to the extent that everything becomes impossible for them to handle. They grieve, become stressed and go through a life transition process to pick up the remaining pieces of their lives and start rebuilding their lives. It is however not easy to effectively manage through the transition, stress, and grief. To effectively manage changes, demobilization is the first step that is carried out (Veenema, 2013). The process allows for psychological and physiological depression following the occurrence of the disaster. At this time, the health workers are recommended to put most of their energy in planning, underwriting, and advertising services that can later be used by disaster victims. A better plan will, therefore, clearly spell out the responsibility of every department involved in the response. In that case, confusion during the transition to the sustained mental health response reduces (Veenema, 2013).

In managing grief and stress, the services of pain and trauma counsellors are essential in promoting the process of healing and treatment to those who develop psychiatric problems. Some cases may warrant the diagnosis of PTSD has proven effective in such cases. Therapeutic services such as traumatic grief therapy and traditional grief therapy are highly recommended (Veenema, 2013). Guidance and counselling have, however, proven to be the most effective in managing stress and grief.

When there is disaster outbreak, there are those individuals in a population that are at high risk of physical, psychological or social health effects mostly after the disaster (Hoffman, 2008). Such groups include children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disability. In our case, we shall focus on pregnant women as one of the high-risk populations. Pregnant in a population face several challenges during and after the disaster, they have special needs that need to be taken care of after such incidences occur. When such occurrences happen, pregnant women face many risks including having premature deliveries, giving birth to underweight infants and also the death of their infant babies (Hoffman, 2008). Such women may have to deliver in areas where there is no access to health facilities such pandemics makes their lives to be at risk as there is the highest probability of them becoming exposed to illnesses and even viruses. Due to the lack of shelter, they also become exposed to the danger emanating from wild animals (Hoffman, 2008).

When dealing with such populations as a health office, some factors that should be put in place to help in handling such situations. It is essential to enhance emergency preparedness through initiatives like having staff on standby who can respond faster in case of such an emergency. Ability to handle such groups with care, provision of essential commodities like water, food and medicine should be a priority together with proper guidance and counselling sessions.

When pregnant women are caught up with the disaster, many complications arise. The complications include increased risk of the infections of their lower genital tract and even inflammatory diseases (Sato et al., 2016). There are also mental health complexations that result from stress that they experience during the disaster. As a primary health care provider, proper attention should be given to such patients. For infections, immediate medication and first-aid services should be availed. Those with mental issues should receive counselling and therapy sessions to ease the pain they are experiencing. It is also imperative to ensure that further arrangements are made so that such patients can receive proper medical attention.

Conclusion

Victims of disasters face a lot of psychological suffering. Due to this significant suffering, today psycho-social intervention has become a vital part of the humanitarian response to disasters. Some intervention like availing counsellors to help communities come into terms with the tragedy is an example of such interventions that play a significant role in integrating such victims back to the community, such interventions or considerations occur in phases. Psycho-social considerations include peace education, trauma, counselling, self-esteem building initiative, and life skills (Pupavac, 2001). All these considerations essentially aimed at helping the victim rebuild their lives after the much ruin and destruction caused by the disaster.

It is, therefore essential to ensure that victims of the disaster get the much-needed help in rebuilding their lives. They should also need counselling as most of them have lasting scars and memories caused by such destruction. Helping them get back and integrate with other members of the community will be the least we can do to help them.

References

Veenema, T. G. (Ed.). (2018). Disaster nursing and emergency preparedness. Springer Publishing Company.

Dillard, C. B. (2017). The Psychological Effects of Natural Disasters. Brookhaven Retreat.

Hoffman, S. (2008). Preparing for disaster: Protecting the most vulnerable in emergencies. UC Davis L. Rev., 42, 1491.

Sato, M., Nakamura, Y., Atogami, F., Horiguchi, R., Tamaki, R., Yoshizawa, T., & Oshitani, H. (2016). Immediate Needs and Concerns among Pregnant Women during and after Typhoon

Haiyan (Yolanda). PLoS Currents, 8.

Pupavac, V. (2001). Therapeutic governance: psychosocial intervention and trauma risk management. Disasters, 25(4), 358-372.