Psychological aspects of providing medical humanitarian aid

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Introduction All those involved in catastrophes will be changed by the experience. Such change, however small, is irreversible but generally positive. Only a minority of survivors or aid workers will develop a mental disorder such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Humanitarian deployments may be isolating, rife with personal threat (from climate, endemic diseases, violence), and expose individuals to human misery, as well as human resourcefulness in the face of tragedy. You should deploy only if you are in good physical and mental health. Accept that everyone in your family will be changed by your deployment and that any problems you leave behind will be there on your return: sort them out before you go. Discuss potential outcomes with your family (such as death or being taken hostage) and make a will. Proper planning and preparation prevent poor performance. Preparation requires information: get as much as you can. The best sources are people who have been to the disaster area before. Beware of media selectivity and bias, and protect family and friends from this after deployment through regular communication. Children left homeless and traumatised by the 2004 tsunami, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India. Misery and grief are inevitable consequences of catastrophes, and no one who encounters them will remain unchanged Further reading Bracken PJ, Petty C eds. Rethinking the trauma of war. London: Free Association Books, 1988 UN High Commission for Refugees . Guidelines on the evaluation and care of victims of trauma and violence. Geneva: UNHCR, 1993 Black D, Newman M, Harris-Hendriks J, Mezey G. Summerfield D. The impact of war and atrocity on civilian populations. In: Black D, Newman M, Harris-Hendriks J, Mezey G. Psychological trauma: a developmental approach. London: Gaskell, 1997 Basoglu M ed. Torture and its consequences: current treatment approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992 Palmer IP. Psychosocial costs of war in Rwanda. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 2002;8: 17–25

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