Some crises have to do with the normal life cycles of the family, are the so-called crises expected. Others, called unexpected crises arise as a result of traumatic events that abruptly break the daily lives of people, institutions and communities.
These crises have a huge impact on the lives of people experiencing events such as catastrophic or disabling illnesses, death of significant people, unemployment, exile, divorce, accidents. As a consequence, this impact produces anxious and depressive symptomatology and impacts on the immune system of the subjects resulting in a greater vulnerability to all types of diseases.
Also, crises can affect groups and institutions when events such as situations of violence and abuse occur, the discovery of acts of corruption, sexual harassment or tragedies that affect members of an institution. As a result, they cause disorganization and confusion that alters the functionality of the same, causing suffering to its members and low productivity.
Finally, crises can also affect entire communities in situations such as natural and man-made disasters such as war, terrorism and institutionalized violence. In these cases, the crisis causes a disarticulation of the support networks of the different institutions and community organizations, which reduces functionality and difficulty in providing support and services to members when they need it most.
In crisis situations, adequate and timely support can dampen the impact of the vital or traumatic event that causes it. This support can be delivered by primary social operators and natural social networks that have the resources and the instrumental skills to do so and have the opportunity to provide first support and eventually referral to specialized networks. When this happens, these operators become a community resource of resilience and contribute to the crisis being solved, resulting in the recovery of balance or growth and the achievement of a new stage of organization, whether of the individual, of the institution Or community.
Conversely, when there is no timely intervention, a percentage of the population is able to overcome the crisis and recover satisfactorily, but another large percentage will present post-traumatic sequelae with the consequent costs of personal and family suffering, an increase in Vulnerability of the population to diseases that will overwhelm primary health care, emergency services, and mental health. In cases of people of school age, dropout, repetition and adaptation problems will increase. With regard to justice systems, adequate non-intervention will mean increased stress leading to violence due to system imbalance, inadequate conflict resolution strategies, and in more serious cases, an increase in violent crime . As far as the productive system is concerned, it will increase the loss of working hours, absenteeism, occupational diseases, turnover in jobs, and therefore a decrease in productivity. Finally, there is a decline in the ability to care for others, which affects parental skills and professional efficiency in helping professions.
In every community there are institutions, groups, organizations and different social operators whose function is or should be to deliver the first support in these crisis situations: the natural social networks of each person, the school system, police, health institutions , Religious organizations, institutions linked to the judicial sector, emergency offices, fire brigades, voluntary organizations.
The abc model of crisis intervention refers to the actions that people and social operators can do to give first support to people who are suffering a crisis.
Social support seems to be a key factor in confronting and overcoming crises through the mechanisms that are activated when a person who supports another helps him overcome the crisis Caplan (1993):
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Strengthening of the person presenting the crisis. In crisis situations the person forgets that at other times in his life he was competent and tends to think that he has always been as useless and inefficient as he feels at the moment (erosion of his own self-efficacy). An intervention that validates one's identity intensifies the feeling of competence and self-efficacy of the individual in question.
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Keep hope and convey trust. In situations of crisis, the social operator can convey confidence in the resources that have those who ask for help to get ahead and keep the hope that will be able to face and resolve their situation.
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Transmit tranquility and focus on specific tasks. In times of crisis, instrumental help is essential so that the person who faces it can have the peace of mind and focus their energy on getting ahead. Assisting in the care of children, in housework or other tasks, is an important social support in order to overcome the crisis.
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Offer a continent for the emotions. Usually one of the effects of receiving social support is to decrease the intensity of emotions such as anxiety and depression. It is important that this is done through the strengthening of one's resources, rather than through reassurance.
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Worry about fatigue. It is characteristic of people who face a crisis who are over tired or have difficulty going to rest. This exhausts them and is likely to make them more ineffective to deal with the situation. An important social support is to worry about resting and temporarily replacing them in some of their work.
Crisis intervention of the first order corresponds to the immediate help, usually given by people who are available when the crisis occurs, who may be professionals or people in the primary social network.
The objectives of this intervention are the immediate restoration of coping capacity, life-risk assessment, linking to aid resources.
Second-order crisis intervention refers to intervention once the immediate crisis has passed, there is no risk of life and the person is in a position to begin a resolution of the crisis.
In intervening in a crisis, social operators and organizations need, in order to deliver timely and efficient first support:
Know the different theoretical models that allow them to conceptualize the different crisis situations and guide the relevant actions
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Possess instrumental skills related to the first support:
Activation of resources,
Articulation to support networks,
Ability to open decompression spaces
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Be able to articulate with the referral networks
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Receive permanent support to deal with critical situations
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Protection for the prevention of burnout
References
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Crisis intervention, http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Crisis-intervention.html
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Crisis intervention, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_intervention
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Crisis intervention, https://patient.info/doctor/crisis-intervention
