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Wietse A. Tol, PhD HealthNet TPO

Mental Health in Complex Emergencies

Wietse A. Tol, PhD

  PhD: Healing in the Aftermath of War

  Expertise in mental health and psychosocial living throughout the globe

  Nepal: HealthNet TPO

  wtol@healthnettpo.org

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Class Objectives

  After this class, students will be able to … -  Differentiate between complex and other emergencies and

understand the relevance of these differences -  Critique current methods in public mental health research in

complex emergencies -  Identify gaps in current knowledge about the relationship of

mental health and complex emergencies and generate research questions

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Class Contents

  Definitions

  Problem statement

  What is the paradigm shift?

  Research gaps and priorities

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Introduction to Complex Emergencies

Section A

Photo by Julien Harneis. Creative Commons BY-SA. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/2531996136/sizes/l/

What Makes an Emergency Complex?

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  What defines an emergency?

  What kind of emergencies are “simple” or specific and time limited?

  What kind of emergencies are “complex”?

  What makes these emergencies complex? What are the factors that are different from “simple” or time-limited emergencies?

  During or after the lecture, go to the BBS area marked Lecture 3, Section A, Slide 6 and post your thoughts

Defining Complex Emergencies

  “A humanitarian crisis in a country, region, or society where there is total or considerable breakdown of authority resulting from external or internal conflict and which requires an international response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency and/ or the ongoing United Nations country program” (IASC, cited in UNHCR, 2001)

  Complex emergencies denote humanitarian crises that are strongly associated with violent, political conflicts

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Defining Collective Violence

  “The instrumental use of violence by people who identify themselves as members of a group against another group or set of individuals, in order to achieve political, economic, or social objectives” (WHO, 2002; p. 5)

  E.g., wars/armed conflicts, terrorism, state-perpetrated violence (e.g., disappearances, torture), genocide (intent to destroy a homogeneous group)

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What Do You Think about Armed Conflicts Today?

  How many armed conflicts occurred globally in 2007? -  Less than 20, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51+

  Since the end of the cold war, has the number of armed conflicts … -  Increased over time, decreased over time, stayed the same?

  For how long have most of the current conflicts been going on? -  Less than 5 years, 5–10 years, more than 10 years

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Pause now and think about these questions. Then, take the survey associated with this lecture, which can be accessed through this lecture’s main page. Note: Survey answers are anonymous.