Psychological Health and Support for Interpreters

Psychological Health and Support for Interpreters

Aim

The aim of this section is to provide help and support for Interpreters when they are faced with a potential distressing clinical situation.

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health ‘is a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her own community’.

Mental Wellbeing and Signs of Stress

The way you are feeling and how you cope with everyday life is your mental state. As this is always changing, it is extremely important to recognise the emotional, behavioural and physical signs of stress that could lead to a breakdown of our mental state. The summary table below has been created using the information from Mind as a summary for the different signs of stress.

Emotional	Behavioural	Physical
Irritable, aggressive, impatient, or wound up	Finding it hard to make decisions	Shallow breathing or hyperventilating
Over-burdened	Constantly worrying	You might have a panic attack
Anxious, nervous or afraid	Avoiding situations that are troubling you	Muscle tension
Your thoughts are racing and you can’t switch off	Snapping at people	Blurred eyesight or sore eyes
Unable to enjoy yourself	Biting your nails	Problems getting to sleep, staying asleep or having nightmares
Depressed	Picking at your skin	Sexual problems, such as losing interest in sex or being unable to enjoy sex
Uninterested in life	Unable to concentrate	Tired all the time
You’ve lost your sense of humour	Eating too much or too little	Grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw
A sense of dread	Smoking or drinking alcohol more than usual	Headaches
Worried about your health	Restless, as if you can’t sit still	Chest pains
Neglected or lonely	Being tearful or crying.	High blood pressure
		Indigestion or heartburn
		Constipation or diarrhoea
		Feeling sick or dizzy / fainting

Causes of Stress

Created using information from Mind

Managing Stress

As well as in your everyday life, during interpreting you may have had to deal with stressful and challenging appointments such as emergencies or breaking bad news. If you have noticed any of the signs above, it is important to know how to address this.

In some situations, stress cannot be prevented. However there are good ways to manage it better. Here are some things you can try:

Share your problems and speak to a family member, friend, or approach your GP
Dedicate some time for your hobbies and interests
Take some time-out from your everyday routine for a break or a holiday
Exercise and eat healthily
Ensure that you get enough quality sleep

The NHS have a great section on how to tackle stress. This includes:

10 Simple Stress Busters
Time management techniques
Mindfulness
Breathing exercises
Helpful apps to download
Audios

Mental Health Act 1983

This is a legislation in England and Wales that covers the assessment, treatment, and the rights of people with a mental health disorder.

Your Responsibility

As an interpreter, it is your responsibility to treat everyone as equal and with respect, regardless of their age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs.
You need to be aware of your own safety and wellbeing in any given environment.
If you need to report any safety issues, you should ensure that you inform the relevant professional as soon as possible.

Challenges you may face

Interpreting within a mental health setting can be extremely challenging.

To help you prepare for the assignment, ensure you arrive early to assignment and ask the professional to brief you about the session.
You will also need to establish any ground rules in relation to the patient such as communication strategies.
Seating arrangements should also be decided in advance. You should ensure that you have a clear exit from where you sit.
Ensure you are never left alone with the service user.
At the end of the assignment, ensure that the service user and the professional have tied things up and ask whether any further appointments need to be arranged.

Other challenges you may face include:

Trouble listening due to noisy environment. In these situations, try your best to focus. Do not be afraid to ask the service user or professional to repeat what they said. However, try to keep this to a minimum as it will affect the flow of the session.
Difficulties understanding patients’ expressions/ any speech impediments. Ensure you inform the professional that you are having difficulties understanding the patient. They know it can be challenging but try to interpret as best as you can.
Personal beliefs/ experiences making it difficult to interpret. You must remain impartial at all times.
Being overwhelmed due to the nature of the assignment. If you are unable to continue due to the nature of the assignment, inform the professional straight away and let them know that you are unable to do any further interpreting.

Challenges After an Assignment, Solutions and Self-care

De-brief with the professional to bring the appointment to an end.
If you need support of any kind, find someone to speak to without breaking the confidentiality of the assignment. For example, you could speak to someone in the Linguist Relations Department or to Quality Control co-ordinators.