WK 3 Volunteer Journal

Student’s Name and Number

Course Name and Number

Instructor’s Name

Assignment Due Date

Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Volunteer

For several years the mental health department in American red cross has always been on the run to save people affected by trauma and other mental problems after a disaster, and with this, several lives have been saved that would otherwise end tragically. The department involves giving emotional and psychosocial support to disaster victims and make them believe that they can live a life full of normalcy even after a disaster.

Identifying with this department is because of the positive impacts it has created in people’s lives. It will help to know the kind of problems people struggle with mentally after a disaster (Alkhayyat, 2020). The struggles might include anxiety, fear, sadness, depression, concentration difficulties, difficulty in sleeping, getting irritated so fast, and nightmares.

Helping people take care of their emotional health or restoring their emotional health after a disaster, encouraging those who have preexisting mental health conditions to continue with their treatment plans, and monitoring any new symptoms that might develop afterward would be such an achievement. Knowing how to communicate with people struggling with mental illness and getting into a conversation with them gradually are some of the experiences I would prefer by making them talk and opening up but not putting pressure on them (Ayers, 2019).  Being able to tell how people with mental illness behave would also be a great experience as it will be easy to know them in the future and help them deal with it

Duties and skills that can be developed are like offering encouragement appropriately and at the right time, reducing being defensive, and being considerate at a common ground such that respect can be maintained, and understanding and interpreting symptoms of people who have mental health problems. Connecting with them and speaking to people according to their age and level of development will also be a great skill. I hope that at the end of the day, people with mental health problems will be able to open up more without fear and make them recover from their emotional distress.

Reference

Alkhayyat, A., & Pankhania, K. (2020). Defining COVID-19 as a Disaster Helps Guide Public Mental Health Policy. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 1-2.

Ayers, L. (2019). The Lived Experience of American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Responders on MCI–Mass Shooting Deployments (Doctoral dissertation, Neumann University).