The concept regarding phases of disaster response plays a fundamental role in the understanding of developmental psychology and the mindset of the children, adolescents, adults, and older adults during times and experiences of disasters. In numerous circumstances, disasters tend to be disruptive, especially based on the fear and uncertainty that distracts the affected persons (Feather, 2017). Phases of disaster response describe a series of techniques that humanity uses to respond to frightening situations that come with disaster. However, the paper discusses the five main phases of disaster response and examines how individuals and communities respond to a disaster event.
Phase 1: The Pre-Disaster Phase
The pre-disaster phase outlines the psychological state of a person or a community prior to experiencing an attack or a disaster. Phase one demystifies both fears and uncertainty of an individual or a community, and it is entirely based on the fact that a community may show fear for being incapable of protecting themselves from an impending disaster. On the same note, the experience of being incapable of protecting one's family that comes with the feeling of vulnerability to an imminent attack describes the context of the pre-disaster case (Rose, Spitz, Schein, Burlingame & Muskin, 2018). Consequently, it is quite imperative to note that there are some disasters that come with the warning, while others do not show signs of attack. In phase one, a disaster that comes with warning shows signs of a community being vulnerable to the disaster, and this displays a significant level of insecurity in the community. A disaster that comes with no warning may cause guilt for the community, especially in the context of their failures to predict the occurrence of the disaster.
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Phase 2: The Heroic Phase
The heroic phase demystifies the impact of the disaster on the community or the individuals affected. Phase two comes with a high level of brain activity and all levels of anxiety disorders, but no productivity, especially based on the actions initiated by the victims to find affirmative solutions to their rescue. Besides, the heroic phase outlines issues of altruism that are dependent on the adrenaline induced behavior at the time of attack or disaster. During phase two of disaster response, the affected individuals may register extreme levels of impaired characteristics in their behaviors based on the concern of failing to conduct an accurate self-assessment for their rescue (Shakespeare-Finch & Scully, 2016). The heroic phase always takes the shortest time since it describes the human cognitive function at the time of the disaster.
Phase 3: The Honeymoon Phase
The honeymoon phase outlines a sudden shift in the victims' emotions arising from the frightening scenarios of a disaster. The community shows significant levels of optimism and adopts a positivistic view about their safety and the hope to recover from the experiences of the disaster. It is evident that phase three may last for a few weeks under the care of experts of medical psychologists. The honeymoon phase informs of the presence of disaster assistance resources that are considered in the establishment of a bond between communities who have suffered the adverse effects of a disaster (Shakespeare-Finch & Scully, 2016). The fact that the disaster assistance resources are available in the third phase means that opportunities and professional insights to enable the affected victims to gain consciousness and rebuild their relationships are also available.
Phase 4: The Disillusionment Phase
The disillusionment phase outlines the stress levels and all sorts of depressions that the victims of a disaster go through upon the realization of the limits of disaster assistance. The fourth phase of a disaster response comes with a higher degree of nostalgia since the communities suffer from a psychological disorder of the reoccurrence of a disaster. Victims of disaster may begin to engage in extreme cases of substance and drug abuse. Ideally, the positivistic view experienced in the honeymoon phase may turn into a serious mental illness that makes an individual fail to realize his or her potential in life. The experience of difficulties of the victims to distinguish between the essentiality of disaster assistance resources and their needs leads to an increased feeling of being abandoned by the society (Feather, 2017). It is quite imperative to note that the disillusionment phase may last for several months or, in some cases, for years of the impact is quite massive and adversely affects the cognitive capability of victims. In numerous circumstances, a community that has suffered the attack may show increased fear and the feeling of insecurity to avoid future attacks. Besides, triggers such as the anniversary of the frightening experience may adversely impact on the cognitive capability of the affected members of a community.
Phase 5: The Reconstruction Phase
The reconstruction phase demystifies the overall feeling of the affected individuals, especially with regards to showing positive responses to achieving a full recovery. The fifth phase describes the individual's acceptance of the reality of being a survivor of a disaster by beginning to pick and fix pieces of his or her life in a bid to live a normal life (Rose et al., 2018). The victims of disaster, especially the adults, take the responsibility of rebuilding their lives, their kids, and older adults. The reconstruction phase takes years based on the intensity of the disaster.
Summary of the Selected Phases and examination of Individuals’ Response to a Terror Attack
The phases of disaster response that proves quite useful with regards to the examination of community and individual's response to a terror attack include the pre-disaster phase, the heroic phase, and the reconstruction phase. The fact that terror attacks comes with no warning and is always very tragic means that the individual response to the disaster would come with an increased level of confusion. Acts of terrorism are always rapid, random, and happen very fast. As a result, there exist numerous cases of impaired decisions by the victims on the scene based on their failure to find an amicable solution to defend themselves (Feather, 2017). The individuals’ response in the pre-disaster phase denotes high levels of uncertainty since they tend to be very vulnerable to the imminent terror attack, the heroic phase outlines the efforts made by the victims in the scene to find rescue. The reconstruction phase outlines the need for the affected community or individuals to recover from the tragic experience of terror attack
The Appropriateness of Pre-disaster, Heroic and Reconstruction Phases in the description of behaviors of Victims of Terror Attack
Terror attacks or acts of terrorism are always conceptualized as quite catastrophic and leave behind a psychologically damaged society; especially the lives lived by the survivors of a terror attack. Coming into terms with realities reading the tragic experiences of a terror attack causes a series of mental illness not only to the adolescents but also to adults and people in their late adulthood (Shakespeare-Finch & Scully, 2016). For instance, given the context of the pre-disaster phase, it is quite imperative to note that the community or rather the individuals in the scene of terror attack would show high levels of fear of being insecure to find the solution to defend themselves before experiencing the frightening experience of such a disaster.
The fact that terror attack is a disaster that comes with no warning means that the perception of the affected individuals being vulnerable to the unpredicted tragedies arising from acts of terrorism takes center stage during the pre-disaster phase. The heroic phase that outlines the impact of the disaster defines the responses of the affected victims based on the rapid psychological interferences that cause shock and panic. The survival tactics of the affected persons depict their chances of initiating rescue operations (Rose et al., 2018). The reconstruction phase also proves quite useful towards the understanding of the affected individuals' responses and experiences during the post terror attacks. In this case, the fact that acts of terrorism are highly catastrophic and entails mass killings means that the majority of the victims suffer psychological disorders issues for several years.
The Role of Cultural Competence during the Reconstruction Phase
The fact that the reconstruction phase entails the initiative to help the victims of a disaster recovers, especially in regards to the catastrophic incidence of a terror attack, means that the application of cultural competence needs to be accorded the requisite attention. Culture defines the mindset and the nature of the mind either arising from a painful experience or rather based on humanity's understanding of civilization. Cultural competence enables the individuals or survivors of a terror attack to come into terms with the reality of the essentiality of disaster assistance and the resources available to help them walk through a recovery process and what they need to achieve a healthy state of mind (Shakespeare-Finch & Scully, 2016). The awareness of cultural competence may affect the behavior of healthcare professionals, especially based on the impact of the experiences they share with the victims of a disaster. The fact that terror attacks entail mass killings means people lose their families, friends, and loved ones. Hence, irrespective of being a behavioral health professional, there exist significant chances of succumbing to trauma based on the testimonies of the patient even if psychological first aid is implemented.
References
Feather, J. (2017). Psychological aspects of disaster management. In Disaster Management for Libraries and Archives (pp. 159-185). Routledge.
Rose, J., Spitz, H. I., Schein, L., Burlingame, G., & Muskin, P. R. (2018). Psychological effects of catastrophic disasters: Group approaches to treatment . Taylor & Francis.
Shakespeare-Finch, J., & Scully, P. (2016). Psychosocial aspects of disasters. Disaster Health Management: A Primer for Students and Practitioners , 243.
