Dealing, or Not Dealing - Part 2

by Michael Kleinman

Published November 11, 2008 @ 01:17PM PST

Following last night's post, a few statistics:

Between 5-10% of aid workers in dangerous situations suffer diagnosable PTSD, while another 20% suffer partial PTSD.

In addition, 10-15% show symptoms of elevated levels of depression, 10-17% show symptoms of elevated anxiety, and 30-50% feel moderate to severe levels of emotional distress. Overall, 40% are at a high risk of burn-out. (All statistics are from a 2005 InterAction Forum on staff wellness.)

Some studies put the numbers even higher.  According to the September issue of InterAction's Monday Developments, "as many as half of all returned nongovernmental organization (NGO) expatriates exhibited symptoms of burnout, depression, or PTSD." 

The November 2007 report NGO Staff Well-being in the Darfur Region of Sudan & Eastern Chad (prepared for InterAction by the Headington Institute) includes additional statistics from the field - 51.4% of staff surveyed reported feeling physically stressed in the previous two weeks; 45.8% reported feeling emotionally stressed and 29.2% reported feeling mentally stressed over the same period.

The top five sources of stress reported by staff surveyed by Headington were: 1) witnessing or hearing stories of personal tragedy, suffering and devastation, 2) being separated from family and friends, 3) heavy workload, 4) the feeling that traumatic event might happen to you personally, and 5) feeling overwhelmed, that there aren't enough resources to confront the problems.

The good news is that more and more humanitarian organizations - with support from USAID OFDA - are starting to focus on issues around staff support and wellness. 

Specific resources are listed below:

- The September issue of InterAction's Monday Developments has a number of excellent articles on the subject, including guidelines for helping to manage stress, as well as a look at staff counseling within the UN system and peer support within humanitarian agencies.

- The 2005 InterAction Forum on staff wellness included useful information and recommendations, in particular the presentation Helping Your Organization Address Staff Wellness by Lisa McKay, Lynne Cripe and Sharon Forrence. 

- The Headington Institute focuses on "helping the helpers" - their website is a tremendous resource, including a series of online tools such as training modules, self-examination tools, handouts on coping with traumatic stress, tips for self-care, stories from the field, and links to other online resources.

- The majority of attention on staff wellness focuses on international staff, while for the most part national staff are left to fend for themselves.  To help address this gap, the Headington Institute offers an excellent module on supporting national staff. 

- The Headington Institute report NGO Staff Well-being in the Darfur Region of Sudan & Eastern Chad is also excellent, including a focus on staff selection, pre-deployment preparation and orientation, support during and after deployment, and managing in crisis situations.

- The Humanitarian Practice Network paper Understanding and addressing staff turnover in humanitarian agencies looks at the causes of staff turnover, as well as the consequences on organizational effectiveness.

- Finally, please see also the 2004 presentation by John Ehrenreich prepared for USAID OFDA on Managing Stress in Humanitarian Aid Workers: The Role of the Organization.

If anyone can suggest other useful resources, please let me know, and I'll add them to the list.

[A road in South Sudan at dusk - Photo from Susannah Friedman]