Date
8-14-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Human Services: Emphasis in Trauma, Resilience, & Self-Care Strategies
Department
Human Services
First Advisor
Jerrod Brown, pHD
Abstract
The mental health impacts first responders face due to work-related stress can be extensive and severe. These impacts are understudied and often simply not considered. First responders, while trained to perform superhuman acts, are simply human beings who are not impervious to feeling the effects of the extraordinary events they are called to witness and partake in. Common mental health impacts can include sleep disorders, substance disorders, PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and suicidal ideation. First responders are deserving of more time, attention, and study by great researchers who are willing to better understand associated risk factors, the severity of negative mental health cognitions, and most importantly resilience factors that can proactively be put into place. Furthermore, the prevalence of Incidents of Mass Violence such as mass shootings, warrants an additional look into the impacts of such events. This paper discussed historical incidents, both in America and in other countries, and the known mental health impacts first responders endured. This paper also provided insight into where opportunities of growth exist to better equip first responders for the incidents yet to come.
Keywords: mental health, first responder, incident of mass violence, mass casualty incident, shooting, terrorism, trauma, suicide, alcohol overuse, depression, stress, resilience