Original Title:
Mental health crisis intervention: Theoretical approaches and principles for psychological first aid, triage, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Summary:
Disaster Medicine and specifically Mental Health Crisis Intervention, like
psychology for the most part, is little more than a collection of facts,
figures, mini-theories and related research. Both psychology and mental health
intervention require the enlistment of other disciplines to formulate a
complete picture. To this end, this paper employs a multi-disciplinary approach
to identifying complimentary theories that might work well enough together to
inform mental health crisis intervention in cases of individual or population
based catastrophes. A presentation and discussion follows on the main
components that inform us on subject a) theoretical frameworks:
re-conceptualizing “disaster” and crisis in context theory, b) principles of
intervention: psychological first aid and triage, c) theory on PTSD
symptomatology as an evolutionary defence-adaptation and d) cognitive
behavioural therapy as a corresponding therapeutic approach to post trauma.
Recommendations for future research and application: computer-based therapy.
Keywords:
crisis intervention, psychological first aid, PTSD, triage, CBT
