Who Aids the Aid Workers?
Typhoon Haiyan damage, Tacloban, Philippines.
Photo by Eoghan Rice – Trócaire / Caritas.
Images from disaster zones, like these pictures showing the devastation Typhoon Haiyan left in its wake, convey an inkling of how overwhelming and traumatic daily life inside the disaster zone can be. Aid workers on the ground share the stresses of these environments, which raise their own risk for depression, anxiety and burnout, even as they work to meet the needs of disaster victims. A 2012 study of anxiety and depression among aid workers by the Centers for Disease Control and this Guardian article describing stress-related burnout among aid workers illustrate the risks of doing this important and courageous work.