Managing People in Emergencies → Staying healthy and managing stress

Staying healthy and managing stress

Staying healthy and mitigating stress – advice for individuals
Working post-disasters is inevitably stressful. However, poor health and high stress levels affect individual’s well being and can put others at risk. Recognising stress Stress can result from the accumulated strain of working too frequently or for too long in a difficult or frustrating environment such as an emergency situation. This ultimately leads to ‘burn out’. Acute stress disorder can be caused through witnessing or personal experience of trauma as may occur in the aftermath of a disaster. Post traumatic stress disorder can emerge weeks or months after experiencing trauma or develop as a result of persistent acute stress. Signs of acute stress may include the following:
Physical	Thinking	Emotional	Behavioural
Headaches/Pains Nausea Fatigue Rapid heart rate Sweats / chills Trembling Nightmares	Bad concentration Poor memory Confusion Fast/slow reaction Poor decision making	Fear, anxiety Guilt, hopelessness Depression Resentment Anger, irritability Loss of humour Distant from others	Hyperactivity Dangerous driving Overwork Angry outbursts Argumentative Not caring for self
Humanitarian workers are at risk of becoming run down, stressed and prone to illness. You can mitigate these risks through simple measures:
Develop a support system with 2-4 people to help out and check on each other from time to time Encourage and support your co-workers Take care of yourself physically by drinking lots of water, and eating small quantities of food frequently. Try some light exercise or stretching, and take regular breaks		Talk to one of your support people when you feel bothered by something Limit alcohol and tobacco consumption Stay in touch with family and friends Recognise your limits and accept them Try to be flexible and accept change
Principles for managing stress by humanitarian agencies
Agency accepts and demonstrates responsibility for reducing, mitigating and responding to the effects of stress, e.g. adequate and regular leave. Thorough assessment of staff suitability during recruitment. Effective pre-departure staff briefing and training. On-going monitoring of stress levels amongst staff. Regular training to address demands on staff working in a humanitarian context.		Specific support / provisions (extra leave entitlements, counselling) for traumatic incidents or stressful periods of work. Individual staff operational and personal de-briefings on contract completion. Commitment to on-going support of staff exposed to trauma or extreme stress as part of their work.
Adapted from © Antares Foundation (2006) ‘Managing stress in humanitarian workers’