If the towns affected by DANA, the miles and miles of streets clogged with mud, were a movie set, now would be the time to change the setting and the performers. The shovels, trucks, uniformed professionals and rubber boots would go behind the scenes to make way for something much less spectacular: psychological teams made up of people whose mission is to prevent victims from falling into an abyss of despair and darkness.
The Generalitat Valenciana has deployed 120 professionals in the affected municipalities, between the field and the consultations organized at the Valencia Fair, where the bodies of the 216 dead in the floods in Valencia arrive. Two hundred people had been treated there until last weekend. And this is not going to slow down, warned Bartolomé Pérez, head of the Autonomous Mental Health Office of the Valencian Community. “This goes well beyond the metro accident or the 11M, it is a war scenario and it will depend on everyone to ensure that what is happening is not much more.” After the shock come the symptoms and complications.
A few days ago I spoke with Fernando Muñoz Prieto, a psychologist from Madrid who coordinated the assistance mechanism of the College of Psychologists after the terrorist attacks of 2004. In those fateful days, the profession learned that in case disaster, it was not enough to have professionals available to those who needed them but we had to go and find people. Be proactive: knock on doors, visit schools, senior centers and work offices. Here I leave you the complete interview with Fernando and in this link you can consult the different initiatives that have been launched in the València region.
The experts we’ve spoken with these days caution that grief is not linear and that a traumatic event like this doesn’t affect everyone in the same way. It is expected that from now and in the coming months, adaptive disorders may arise that may lead to acute stress. The lack of control is monumental and can affect both those who find themselves in terrible situations – such as witnessing someone’s disappearance or death or being in grave danger in their home or car – and those who , because they are not so affected, suffer and are blamed. ask questions. Collective trauma, why you and not me.
The challenge is to prevent whatever exists from turning into post-traumatic stress. “There is a huge amount of work to do and we need to start doing it immediately. It will last for months, even years,” Fernando supposes. The Ministry of Health has also made available 14 additional teams to provide direct care in areas where needs are identified.
While you were doing something else…
When caring for others’ health destroys yours
The nursing staff are collapsing. This week we have a new test that we repeat from time to time. The data: 23% of professionals found themselves on sick leave due to work-related anxiety, stress or mental exhaustion last year, according to the responses that the General Council of Nurses (CGE) received from nearly 10,000 health workers from hospitals, outpatient clinics and social health centers, questioned about their situation in their daily work. The majority (75%) work in the public health field.
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See you next Saturday.
Sofia
