a. Accept emotional disability as being just as real
as physical disability. If a soldier's ankle is seriously sprained
in a fall, no one (including the injured man himself) expects
him to run right away. A soldier's emotions may be temporarily
strained by the overwhelming stress of more "blood and guts"
than he can take or by a large-scale artillery attack. DO NOT
demand that he pull himself together immediately and carry on
without a break. Some individuals can pull themselves together
immediately, but others cannot. The person whose emotional stability
has been disrupted has a disability just as real as the
soldier who has sprained his ankle. There is an unfortunate tendency
in many people to regard as real only what they can see, such
as a wound, bleeding, or an X-ray of a diseased lung. Some people
tend to assume that damage involving a person's mind and emotions
is just imagined, that he is not really sick or injured, and that
he could overcome his trouble by using his will power.
b. The terms "it's all in your head," "snap
out of it," and "get control of yourself" are often
used by people who believe they are being helpful. Actually, these
terms are expressions of hostility because they show lack of understanding.
They only emphasize weakness and inadequacy. Such terms are of
no use in psychological first aid. A psychological patient or
a physical patient with strong emotional reactions to his injury
does not want to feel as he does. He would like to be effective,
but he is temporarily overcome with either fear, anxiety, grief,
guilt, or fatigue. He feels lost and unable to control his emotions.
Reminding him of his failure to act as others do only makes him
feel worse. What he needs is calm, positive encouragement, such
as reminding him that others have confidence in his ability to
pull together and are also counting on him. Often this reassurance
combined with explicit instruction and encouragement to do a simple,
but useful task (that he knows how to do), will restore his effectiveness
quickly.
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