Every year since 1992, the World Health Organization observes October 10th as World Mental Health Day – a day to recognize the effects of mental health concerns on people’s lives and spread awareness of the help available. Themes from the last few years include schizophrenia, dignity in mental health and mental health in older adults. This year’s theme - “Psychological First Aid” (PFA) - intends to challenge the popular notion that psychological health is less important than physical health.
When a person has just experienced a crisis – for example, an accident, a terror attack or a natural disaster – the immediate response is to provide physical first aid. And yet research has shown that this is not enough to help the person cope after the crisis – in fact people are surprised to learn that more people are mentally affected than physically. Immediately after the event a person might feel vulnerable, isolated or helpless. Early intervention has shown to reduce the intensity of the painful emotions and responses that might increase fear and anxiety – and this is what PFA sets out to do (World Health Organization 2011).
“The primary objective of PFA is to give people a better understanding of common reactions to stressful events, as well as how to listen and provide practical assistance” (Mental Health Association Oklahoma 2016). The basic principles of PFA, as set by the World Health Organization, are to “look, listen and link” - communicating with the affected individual to create an environment of safety, comfort, connectedness, self-empowerment and hope soon after the event has occured (Minnesota Department of Health 2016). As PFA is a one-time intervention, it sets out to help people use their own resources to help themselves by arming them with a sense of control. For example, imagine that you have just seen the aftermath of a road accident. A man is lying motionless on the road, his wife is crying and the daughter is standing, speechless and in shock. A crowd has gathered around them. PFA in this situation would involve these steps (World Health Organization 2011) :
1) Ask the crowd if an ambulance has been called for medical attention.
2) Ask someone in the crowd to redirect traffic flow so it is a safe environment.
3) Introduce self to the woman and ask her if she or her daughter have been injured.
4) Ask the woman if she wants to tell you what happened.
5) Inform her that an ambulance has been called.
6) Express understanding of the situation and her emotional response.
7) Speak to the daughter at her level, introduce self and ask her if she is hurt.
8) Reassure the woman that you will get the hospital details from the ambulance and find out if they can go with the injured man to the hospital.
9) Ask the woman if she has any immediate needs that can be taken care of.
10) Tell the woman that it is important for them to not be alone that night and to think of a trusted individual who can accompany them to the hospital.
11) Normalize their reactions to the event.
The steps followed above embody the principles of looking for signs of trauma and safety, listening to the needs of the person going through trauma and linking the person to practical supports. Providing a listening ear, a helping hand and a comforting voice helps reduce the feelings of isolation, desperation, powerlessness and fright that are natural responses to a stressful event. PFA is not counseling or therapy – but it does have a therapeutic effect by focusing on the person’s ability to cope. Reading this, one may get the sense that PFA is for crisis “events” - but the same principles can also be applied to situations where a person has an anxiety attack or a psychotic break (Ivbijaro 2016).
Just as nobody is required to have a medical degree to perform physical first aid, and bowing to the truth that nobody is immune to distressing emotional responses in crisis situations, PFA can be learned and administered by anyone – not just a trained counselor or psychiatrist. Courses and reading material are available online to spread awareness and knowledge amongst those who do not have a “psychosocial” background – after all, a degree isn’t required to look, listen and link.
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mad900 on 15 Feb 2023, 15:25 PM
Cyberbullying is a huge problem among the youth of today, only hastened by the pandemic. An important read - Madhavdenie on 05 Jul 2022, 12:51 PM
Extremely helpful.