When terrible things happen in our communities, we can reach out a helping hand to those who are affected. Perhaps you find yourself at the scene of an accident where people are hurt. Perhaps you are a health-care worker or teacher talking with someone from your community who has just witnessed the violent death of a loved one. Perhaps you are called upon as a staff member in a disaster or volunteer to help asylum seekers who have recently arrived in your community. Learning the basic principles of psychological first aid will help you to provide support to people who are very distressed, and, importantly, to know what not to say. The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, covers “psychological first aid”. Efforts in support of the day will focus on basic pragmatic psychological support by people who find themselves in a helping role whether they are health staff, teachers, firemen, community workers, or police officers. Despite its name, psycho...
If you have experienced and/or witnessed a threat to your life, your body, your moral integrity, or have had a close encounter with violence or death you may have felt an array of emotions including that of fear. Fear triggers what is commonly known as a “fight, flight or freeze” response in the body that results in psychological, behavioural and physiological actions to occur in the body during the event. Those who continue to experience effects related to the occurrence after the danger or problem has subsided may go on to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is described as a severe response to trauma and can causes a huge deal of distress and severely limit active daily life in those who experience it. PTSD is characterised by three primary symptoms: 1. Re-experiencing the traumatic event 2. Avoiding any reminders of the event, or feeling emotionally numb 3....
You tube remains an amazing tool for learning and for shared experiences. As such when we came across this video we felt it important to share as a means of encouraging people to talk. The below exert is from Nikisha in relation to this video: I wanted to make a video talking about my diagnosis of both ADHD and Anxiety Disorder (GAD) at the age of 31. I was professionally diagnosed by a brain specialist (Doctor). Mental illness and brain disorders aren't easy to talk about because there are a lot of stigmas and strong opinions that oppose each other. I feared opinions that opposed mine until I realized that no one can be me, no one knows the torment and hardships that someone else has to live through day in and day out. It’s very debilitating and many beautiful people have taken their lives. Many people don’t understand unless they're experiencing it themselves. I believe we need to educate ourselves, have more open dialogues, and be less judgmental and more open minded. I wa...
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