Emily Goldmann is an expert in looking at factors of mental health. She has a masters and PhD in epidemiology, and is a research assistant professor at NYU. Sandro Galea is a physician and epidemiologist. The two have a great deal of experience in health care and in examining how mental health can be improved or worsened by a variety of additional factors.
This article has been referenced in other articles that study disaster PTSD, mental health after hosting refugees from a disaster, and using epidemolody to help draft policies for disaster response. These papers all further the research and possible benefits for humanity.
Emergency response is discussed in the following quote:
"One such intervention, psychological debriefing or critical incident stress debriefing, was developed in the 1980s for emergency responders and has been used with other victims of trauma (46). The technique is applied within 48 h of the traumatic event, during which victims are asked to describe the event and their emotional responses to it in detail. They are also given suggestions of methods to relieve stress (12). Intervention studies, however, have found that this method does not prevent psychopathology and, by strengthening memories of the traumatic event, may impair the natural recovery process and even worsen symptoms (44). Therefore, it is no longer recommended in the immediate aftermath of traumatic event exposure (12, 49)."
This quote shows that the psychological needs of first responders are also considered, not just those of the people who were victims. It shows a weakness in the abilities to heal people afterwards, as this method is no longer recommended. Other methods are being pursued, as the first responders of the world need support and healing too.
This article was primarily supported by it's cited work. It combined and summarized many research reports and other articles. They broke it down into sections that flowed in a reasonable manner and supported each statement with a reference number.
" we aim to provide an overall picture of what we have learned from decades of research on the presentation, burden, correlates, and treatment of mental disorder following disasters. We also describe challenges to studyingdisaster-relatedpsychopathologyandlimitationsinourcurrentmethodologiesandoffer directions for future research."
"Childrenexposedtodisastersareparticularlyvulnerabletopsychologicalproblems,mostcommonly symptoms of anxiety (e.g., PTSD, panic, phobias) and depression but also acute stress reactionsandadjustmentdisorder(27).Elevatedvulnerabilityamongchildrenmaybeafunctionof their being less equipped to cope with what they have experienced (49)."
"Psychological first aid (PFA) has become the preferred post-disaster intervention, with three goals: Secure survivors’ safety and basic necessities (e.g., food, medical supplies, shelter), which promotes adaptive coping and problem solving; reduce acute stress by addressing post-disaster stressors and providing strategies that may limit stress reactions; and help victims obtain additional resources that may help them cope and regain feelings of control"
I looked up how emergency responders deal with mental health, since the method that was described in this article is no longer recommended. I also investigated the types of disaster that people around the world face each year, besides for weather disasters. Furthermore, I looked at a map of the types of disasters across the globe.
The arguments are supported by many citations of other research and work that has been done on the various topics that are discussed. This involves looking at hard data that has been conclused, as well as qualitative data like risk factors and examples of disasters.
The bibliography shows that many of the resources were papers on mental health issues like PTSD, as well as mental health after specific disasters. From this information, the authors were likely able to find comparisions between mental health trends after disasters, and then how those compare to PTSD trends.