Texas A&M International University Researchers Highlight Recent Research in Mental Health Diseases and Conditions ("You can never unhear that": Gendered mental health and emotional labor in civilian volunteer search-and-rescue organizations.

This article focuses on research examining how gender influences mental health experiences and emotional labor among civilian volunteer search-and-rescue (SAR) organizations during disasters. Drawing on ethnographic data from eight SAR groups, the study found a gendered division of labor, with men typically serving as boaters embodying traditional masculine norms and minimizing emotional impact, while women often took on back-end roles such as dispatchers and social media administrators, experiencing greater emotional labor as first points of contact. Funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted at Texas A&M International University, the research highlights gender as a critical structural factor shaping volunteers’ mental health responses in disaster settings. [Extracted from the article]