To continue raising awareness of mental health during this month dedicated to it, we are putting the spotlight on NGO workers. How can we take care of the mental health of humanitarian workers?
Last week, we talked about the mental health of people in forced displacement, on the occasion of Mental Health Awareness Month. Some TSF staff members shared the emotional challenges they face.
“The most challenging aspect is sharing the experience [with refugees] and trying to detach myself from the emotional part of things.”
Hanna, Project Coordinator in Poland, for the Information Diffusion project for Ukrainian refugees.
Humanitarian workers are often confronted with crisis situations and the suffering they cause, and interact with the people affected. This can lead to higher proportions of PTSD, anxiety, depression, hazardous alcohol consumption and burnout than in the rest of the general population.
“Many times, I find myself crying about what I’m reading, how people get harmed, how kids get harmed. So I think sometimes I get burnt-out with this information that is very heavy to read. Your life is not the same after you read those news.”
Gabriela, Content Designer in Mexico, for the Information Diffusion project in Latin America.
To support humanitarian workers who are often witnesses of crisis after crisis, who need to get over their own struggles to provide support to affected populations, there are several solutions.
What can be done to support humanitarian workers’s mental health?
- Build personal resilience through self-assessment (identifying emotional vulnerabilities) and self-care (relying on emotional strengths and exercise)
- Promote work-life balance to help with stress linked to heavy workload and family separation
- Encourage organizational support, with positive supervision and team support that can mitigate the development of mental distress
