Disaster Mental Health, And The Theories Of Disaster Mental Health

Throughout history there have been many theories about the mental health as it relates to trauma and human beings reaction to certain circumstances. What do September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, have in common? They were all traumatic events that have affected millions of people and their families. The events not only affected them physically but mentally as well. Events today have become more devastating with more mental affects which has led to a new field of study, entitled Disaster Mental Health. This will be a brief introduction to what encompasses Disaster Mental Health, the theories behind it, and who offers DMH practitioners.
Disasters and traumatic events have been captured by individuals for at least two centuries now, dating back to the 1880’s. One of the first traumatic events the raised a red flag to mental health was a train crash in England. There were severe physical injuries beyond that the medical personnel knew there was something else wrong with the victims but were unable to identify them (Halpern, 2007).
These traumatic events and disasters continued to take place but no one determined or took into account the psychological aspect of the events. It was not until World War 1 that people took notice of the psychological impact of these events. People began to realize the impact of technological advances. World War 1 brought dynamite to the fore front which proved to have a last effect on soldiers fighting in the war.Technology became one of the first trends in Disaster Mental Health. As the dependency on technology and the advances of technology became prevalent, so did the consequences if the technology failed or went wrong (Halpern, 2007). The events became ...

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... on the welfare of all the people involved in a disaster from the victims, first responders, and the emergency management personnel. They came to the realization that every individual perceives the event in their own way and can be affected at different levels. The need for Disaster Mental Health professionals grew due to the large amount of unknowns surrounding the field as well as the growing number of disasters around the world. Every day we are affected by disasters or traumatic events. Just yesterday they was a stabbing inside a Pittsburgh school where 21 people were stabbed and a lady was involved in a two vehicle crash, almost losing her life. It is unknown how those people will be affected psychologically but it will have an impact on them. This is where the disaster mental health field comes into play in helping get their lives back into some sort of order.