UMass Global mental health experts offer advice for overcoming trauma stemming from international crises

Feelings of trauma and anxiety can arise from faraway events, as well as personal experiences. That’s why University of Massachusetts Global faculty members Golnaz Agahi and Melani Natneil authored an op-ed for eCampus News providing recommendations for reinforcing mental health in the face of vicarious and other traumas.

Agahi, an associate professor of social work, and Natneil, an assistant professor of psychology, focus on how consuming news of the women’s rights protests in Iran, and learning of the injustices committed by that country’s government, can be emotionally stressful. They also acknowledge how crises occurring elsewhere in the world can also be sources of mental anguish. In their Feb. 27 op-ed, “How instructors can help students with trauma due to Iran’s human rights crisis,” Agahi and Natneil deliver an overview of how people experience different forms of trauma and offer recommendations for supporting mental resilience.

“The events occurring in Iran are not only troubling to the Iranian-American population,” Agahi and Natneil write in eCampus News. “We as a community are all interconnected through basic human rights and lived experiences, and current events anywhere in the world can impact individuals differently. It is critical that we recognize the power of “Holistic Healing,” which is to transform and nurture the community by creating connection and support.”

Read the full op-ed in eCampus News.