What's Up Doc? : Mental Health in Haiti

What happened to Haiti was a disaster and is still a disaster. Many medical volunteers have been dispatched to help the Haitians recover physically, but the American Red Cross has now sent mental health specialists as well. These specialists, while primarily there to helps the Haitians cope with the trauma, are also there to help the other volunteers.

Being on an emergency relief team can be a significantly emotionally draining experience. The volunteers can experience what's called vicarious trauma. Volunteers can develop sleep disorders, anxiety, and social withdrawal. Oh, and they can also begin to suffer from that little thing plaguing more people than anyone likes to admit, substance abuse. A hallmark, though, of this vicarious trauma is something like disrupted spirituality-a term that doesn't quite sound like something you'd read about in your psychology textbook. The term is pretty self-explanatory, though, if you take away any religious connotation. It's simply a loss of meaning or hope.

The mental health specialists will be encouraging the volunteers to take breaks every so often, instead of just working non-stop off the adrenaline rush of being in such a tragic atmosphere. It's important that these folks take breaks and rest. Sure, the Haitians need their care and support, but for that support to be strong, the volunteers have to rest.

It's interesting that we're hearing about this vicarious trauma with Haiti. I'm sure it existed with Katrina and 9/11 among other events. No one said a word. But it seems definitively clear now that the best policy for relief is to give the doctor an apple a day, so he'll be able to stay.