Military first responders in Sri Lanka: Post-crisis psychosocial challenges and treatment recommendations by mental health professionals

This research explored perspectives of civilian and military-based mental health professionals regarding mental health challenges, influencing factors, and treatment considerations for military first responders in Sri Lanka, after they have been exposed to crisis events. Twenty-nine mental health professionals from Sri Lanka (14 civilian and 15 military-based) engaged in a semi-structured interview to share their experiences and recommendations in treating military first responders from Sri Lanka army and navy. The thematic analysis yielded two main categories of data: (1) factors influencing the impact of exposure to crisis events and (2) factors influencing effective interventions for first responders in the Sri Lanka military. These two categories were further analysed as themes and subthemes, based on factors which amplify, buffer against, and/or have a variable impact on trauma symptomatology and factors external to military first responders, which could impact their recovery efficiency. This study is one of the first to explore mental health challenges and treatment considerations for military first responders in South Asia, through the perspective of civilian and military-based mental health professionals.