Psychiatry Expert Calls for Mental Health Care in Wake of Haiti Earthquake
January 19th, 2010
The impact of a large-scale natural disaster, such as the recent earthquake in Haiti, on mental health can be overwhelming, capable of causing damage that persists long after physical needs are met. Urging the international community to aid in efforts to provide emergency mental health care to those affected by the disaster, a prominent psychiatry expert in New Zealand has noted that charity workers as well as those exposed to extensive or graphic media coverage and people who have been affected by similar trauma in the past should be directed to mental health resources along with the victims of the earthquake.
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Laguna Beach Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
-
Find the Right Therapist
-
10 Comments | Click here to leave a comment.
Comments
it will definitely take a toll on the mind to see one’s home and neighborhood,something that one saw everyday as their own world to have been destroyed.there is destruction everywhere and all the things associated with your memories have been reduced to rubble…sad indeed.
The charity workers that put themselves in the line of danger are the forgotten heroes of catastrophes like these. Without them getting food and water through in their trucks, there would be more deaths. They should be given mental health care too, no doubt about it.
there could be a massive number of cases related to mental health in addition to the death of an estimated 200 thousand people…this in a country of 10 million and it would not take an expert in estimating the kind of trauma the survivors would be facing…near and dear ones dead, everything around reduced to a rubble…we can only imagine their plight.
CNN has been far too graphic in their depiction of this quake. Yes, reports will say viewer discretion is advised. How many children have walked into a room where the TV’s on midway through such a report and seen them?
I watched a very distressing report which showed bodies being dumped, literally, by a dump truck in a mass grave. That’s just too much information almost even for an adult viewer.
It is important to provide as much support to Haiti for the other countries… it is a humanitarian gesture that can make sure that as few people as possible undergo the after effects of this horrible traumatic earthquake.
I’m not even there and every time I watch something on TV or read something online about this disaster it makes me cry. I am so proud of those who can go there and give so much of their time to help this nation as they work to recover from this.
Paulette, are you suggesting networks minimize how horrific this quake’s aftermath is? Graphic reporting is how the message gets across that jolts people into action. It’s a means to an end.
Nowhere did I say that. No Jim, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying the very explicit reports should be on extremely late at night so no child has to see that and have nightmares over a sea of corpses.
The media should report what’s happening and the realities of these shocking events. They should also pick their reporting schedules carefully. That’s what I was saying.
Turning up in a truck isn’t on a par with being buried under rubble or seeing your home and family destroyed. By all means, offer the charity workers and media that witness it therapy or whatever care they need on the understanding that their needs are secondary to the true victims who have to be seen first.
I can see what Paulette is meaning here. Blurring the images does nothing to downplay what’s on screen either. I noticed they do that with the news bulletins. They can’t possibly know how watching such graphic content can affect a viewer, disclaimer or no disclaimer.
Because that’s all that “viewer discretion is advised” is — an attempt to absolve their networks of any responsibility if there are repercussions because of the broadcast.
Leave a Reply
By commenting on this blog you acknowledge acceptance of this Blog's Terms and Conditions of Use.