Direct Mental Health Trauma
Direct trauma in mental health refers to the experience of a distressing or harmful event that is directly witnessed or experienced by an individual, which falls outside the range of the 'usual' human experience. This type of trauma can encompass a wide range of events, including accidents, physical or sexual assault, natural disasters, conflict exposure, or other life-threatening situations.
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Key considerations for those exposed to direct trauma to enhance their learning, understanding, and self-care regarding direct trauma:
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1. Understand the Sources of Direct Trauma.
2. Understanding Trauma
3. Coping strategies and Healing from Trauma.
4. Normalis Help-Seeking.
Potential sources of Direct Trauma
Individuals should be aware of the various forms of direct trauma they may encounter in their work, as well as the potential impact these events can have on mental health and well-being.
There are two main sources for Traumatic Distress: Context and Content.
Job Context relates to aspects of work that carry inherent occupational risk—event (s) exposure. Sources of stress related to Job context are generally related to deep field deployment, working in front-line health clinics, delivering aid in humanitarian camps, and living conditions, to name but a few examples.
Job Content relates to aspects of the work environment arising from the organisation's structure, workloads, unfair work practices, lack of support from superiors, bullying, and excess paperwork.
The Trauma Exposure Continuum
