Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves during a recent call to the Issue At Hand program, emphasized the importance of psychosocial support in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Beryl.
The Prime Minister, during the call, made a call, in particular for males in the psychosocial field to contact the offices of social development, the chief medical officer or the ministry of education, to help during this time.
He noted that work in the area of psychosocial support is being put in.
“One big area is psychosocial support and we’re working on that. Persons who are listening to me, if they have skills in–retired persons trained in psychosocial support, please contact the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education or the permanent secretary at social development or the chief medical officer. We need a number of males to do psychosocial support with males because look, people under a lot of pressure. As I’ve said, borrowing from the poetry of Martin Carter, Faces of Men and Women and Children are trained in anxious and that’s an understatement really.” He said.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), disasters such as hurricanes are unexpected, sudden, and overwhelming, and that for many people, there are no outwardly visible signs of physical injury, but there can be nonetheless an emotional toll.
The APA states that it is common for people who have experienced disaster to have strong emotional reactions, and that understanding responses to distressing events can help persons cope effectively with their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and help them along the path to recovery.
