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Applying medical first aid in case of emergency can mean the difference between life and death. Less recognized is the important role psychological first aid plays in helping people cope with the trauma of sudden tragedies and in preventing them from turning into long-term mental disorders. World Health Organization Public Mental Health Adviser, Mark van Ommeren, says listening to people in crisis is key in any psychological first aid intervention. “Listening without pressuring people to talk about what happened. If people want to talk about what they went through, that is very fine. But, if one person does not want to talk, one just listens to whatever the person wants to discuss,” he said.
Syrian refugee Tesnim Faydo, 8, shows her drawing of a mother crying for her wounded daughter, as she is surrounded by her friends in Yayladagi refugee camp in Hatay province near the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkey
Van Ommeren says it also is important to ask people in crisis about their needs and concerns. The first responder should provide information so people can access services and get the social support that will help them. He says psychological first aid was applied in Haiti five years ago after the devastating earthquake. He says this approach now is being used to help survivors of Hurricane `Matthew, the latest disaster to hit this Caribbean island, deal with their emotional wreckage.
An Afghan patient is seen on the bed as a father weeps in the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He says aid agencies used this approach some months ago in Greece. At that time, he says, it was assumed the refugees and migrants who had survived the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing would remain on the island for a short period. “So, psychological first aid was very popular and appropriate for the situation to help arrivals quickly with whatever practical needs they had and giving them information and, if necessary, offering a listening ear,” Van Ommeren states.
Syrian refugee Mustafa Halebi, 16, holds a paper that reads in Arabic: "I am Syrian and I want to return to Syria" in Nizip refugee camp in Gaziantep province, Turkey
However, the situation has changed. Most people are staying in Greece for much longer than expected. So, Van Ommeren says they are in of need more than a quick psychological fix to help them overcome their mental distress. Psychological first aid has been used with success in countries around the world, including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone during the recent Ebola epidemic. It is being offered widely in war-torn Syria and to thousands of displaced people in Greece and Nigeria.
Psychological First Aid Helps People Affected by Crisis
Mental illness does not discriminate among ethnic, cultural or religious groups, says the president of the World Psychiatric Association, Dr. Dinesh Bhugra, but political and social crises throughout the world can aggravate and intensify anxiety and stress. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are among those whose mental health is particularly at risk, he notes. "Psychological first aid" is the theme of this year's observance, which the World Health Organization says addresses a need for both psychological assistance and social support for those who are in a crisis or are suffering from acute distress. "When terrible things happen in our communities," WHO says, "we can reach out a helping hand to those who are affected."
Promoting mental health
This is the 25th annual observance of World Mental Health Day by the global organization that has been working for more than 70 years to promote mental and emotional health and ensure access to appropriate care for people throughout the world. This year, the World Federation for Mental Health aims to expand the definition of first aid beyond physical health. WFMH, a private group separate from WHO, gathers and coordinates financial resources from organizations and individuals in more than 150 countries, to help reduce the global personal, social, and economic burden associated with mental disorders and emotional ill-health. One of its members is the national mental-health federation of South Africa, a country that ranks near the top of lists of "most stressed-out nations." "High stress levels have been linked to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, and can also lead to substance abuse. In severe cases, these problems can lead to a person becoming suicidal," said South African researcher Lourens Schlebusch, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
A man suffering from mental illness sits chained on a bed in his room inside his family home in Curug Sulanjana village in Serang, Banten province, Indonesia
The deputy director of the South African Federation of Mental Health, Leon de Beer, said the notion of mental-health first aid is still a bit foreign, so his organization is conducting a month-long campaign focusing on all patients' dignity, and for appropriate mental-health care to preserve life, provide help, promote recovery and provide comfort.
Providing help
One in every four persons worldwide is believed to experience some form of mental illness at some point in life, and the world federation said this year that the need is crucial to offer help to those "developing a mental health problem, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem or in a mental health crisis." World Psychiatric Association president Bhugra also is a professor of mental health and diversity at King’s College London. "People both in the workplace and at home need to develop skills to provide mental health first aid the same way people do for physical health,” he said, by "helping people identify stress ... [and] early stages of anxiety and depression."
Patients are treated in the Mental Health and Drug Addicts' Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 17, 2016. After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Caregivers then can help patients patients select useful support and treatment methods. WPA launched a "bill of rights for people with mental illness," last month, which asks governments to meet certain standards for patients' services and rights. “It’s a global initiative,” Bhugra said, that 32 organizations worldwide have already signed on to support. Workplace pressures are a particular problem in stress-filled South Africa, mental-health advocate de Beers said. “We’ve had a massive influx of inquiries from corporates," he said, asking the national federation "to come in and do mental health awareness talks about elevated stress levels.”
'Mental Health First Aid' for All Is a Goal of Annual Observance
To think that all terrorists share the same motivation is naïve. Some are true believers that swallowed the line that the West is at war with Islam or that Islam demands killing non-believers not certainly not all. I'm convinced that some of the young terrorists, especially those raised in the West, suffer from the same mental issues as non-Muslim terrorists like the Columbine pair.