How to Help People Out of a Catastrophe

Dr. Markowitz at Columbia University outlined the types of therapies that are proven to work for people with a major trauma.  The most common diagnosis and response to trauma is depression. A lot of other people are going to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other people will develop substance abuse. Different people have different responses and you can have more than one. Different conditions require different treatments. Medication can be helpful, but you must talk about it and process the trauma. Medication alone does not usually help you deal with having been through a catastrophe. The people who develop PTSD tend to try to bury their feelings. One way to treat that is to face the fears that you’re most terrified of, so called “exposure therapy.” By gradually exposing somebody to their fears (start with the easier fears and build up to the scarier ones), they can habituate. Another way is interpersonal psychotherapy, which is a treatment known helps with depression and eating disorders, anxiety disorders, etc. You must deal with your feelings around other people and figure out who you trust and talk to. Social support — being able to talk to the people around you — is protective. The third way is called relaxation therapy, you do muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and physical relaxation. And then medication too like serotonin reuptake inhibitors that can help with PTSD and depression. Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/