Coming Together In a Crisis
By Elsa Friis, MA and ABHA As the United States and the world frantically musters their resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to remember that pandemics go beyond just the physical risks and preparations – they also bring a host of psychological and social stress “injuries”. The history of human behavior during infectious disease outbreaks suggests we can expect both a rally to come together to support one another, and divisions, finger pointing, blaming, and stigma. In 2014, I was a graduate student helping run a positive parenting program in Liberia when the community we were working in was struck by the Ebola outbreak. It was amazing to see the flexibility of our team to redirect resources to promote a hand-washing campaign and support the families we were working with in any capacity we could. But soon these stories were replaced with concerns that community health workers were being ostracized by their communities and families. Not only were th
