Individuals can become quite distressed by strong reactions following a shocking event. Education and direction. An important aspect of self-care is knowledge of how to care for oneself. Persistent or delayed onset symptoms should be an indication of the need for professional follow-up. Knowledge of this will more likely result in proactive self-care.
Some events are shocking.
Others result in death or other losses. If we are to properly assess the efficacy of psychological debriefings, we must go beyond individual post-traumatic symptomatology. Few would argue that a 3 hour groups session would most likely have significant impact on the long-term psychological readjustment of an acutely traumatized individual. People like to connect after a trauma, many feel better and think more rationally following a community diaologue, those who are sevely traumatized need professional care, and most will take care of themselves better after some education. I argue that we should view workplace trauma interventions such as group debriefings as health promotion activities.