But one phase of disaster that happens in every single event that I’ve worked is that disillusionment phase, and that is when we’ve gone through the disaster. We’ve had agencies in helping us recover from the disaster, and we feel like things are going to be OK, and then all of a sudden it seems like there’s a shift. And people go back to work, and people go back to school, and the world goes on around them, and they are still recovering in the moment from that disaster, and they can feel very disillusioned, like I’m just exhausted, the help is all left. They find that stress and that fatigue really does start to take a toll on their body, on their emotional health, and we know that’s when we really start expecting to see some of these reactions I talked about, and those reactions should go away. They can last for about four to six weeks, but if they go on longer than that, then that’s when we know we need to have some mental health folks step in.
That’s when we see things like excessive stress, where people can’t shake those images of the event itself. They might be working a lot, and that work is consuming them at the expense of other things going on around them. They may turn to substances and use substances to kind of cope, so that negative coping can come into play. They might find that they, while they are irritable and impatient, it’s becoming kind of heightened and excessive, and then they may feel like they’re starting to have something that’s more severe. Maybe they’re feeling depressed, maybe they’re feeling more anxious, or they’re having anxiety attacks, or panic attacks, they feel like there’s some PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) going on, and that’s when we know we’re moving into something beyond those common reactions, when we know we need to get some help for the folks that have been impacted. That is more of that clinical aspect.
SM: You just mentioned that seeking counseling is a good idea. But are there some coping skills that people can try when they’re feeling anxious, or a certain way to try to calm themselves down and get back to normal?
BG: Sometimes we talk about mitigating those reactions. We talk about wellness and self-care. And I know sometimes when people talk about self-care, they think, oh my gosh, I don’t want to hear those words, you know, but it really is our wellness and how we take care of ourselves. So what is it that can center you? What is it that can recharge you? What is it that fosters that wellness within you, and that looks different for every person? It might be that they go for a walk. It might be as simple as taking a walk. It might be that they like to go hiking. It could be that they like yoga or going to work out at the gym, but it also could be things like meditation or doing other ways of mindfulness. It could be limiting your intake of substances if you do occasionally go out with friends to drink. Maybe this isn’t the best time to do that. Maybe it’s trying to find something that is a little bit more helpful to you in that moment. We also know that turning off the media (is helpful). If you find yourself, we call it “doom scrolling” right? You find yourself looking on Facebook a lot to see what the local updates are, or on whatever social media people use, turning that off, setting yourself limits throughout the day. It might be diet, sleep, drinking water, making sure they’re getting enough hours of sleep at night, setting a routine. You know, we talk about that a lot with kids, is making sure kids get back in a routine. But I argue that’s just as important for adults. Having a structured schedule in the evening before you go to bed, making sure you’re doing all these things that you can to not only recharge, but to also get yourself ready to be in a calm state as you go to sleep, whenever that is for you.
SM: You mentioned kids a little bit. I want to talk about that, too. Children may not have the language to convey exactly what’s going on with them. For parents or caretakers, what should they be looking out for, regarding children who have just gone through a disaster?
BG: Some of the things we often see with kids, and it varies by age range, is that they might have a regression in their behaviors. The example I always use is somebody who used to suck their thumb, and had stopped sucking their thumb before the disaster but, since then, maybe they started sucking their thumb again.
Or maybe they wanted to kind of be attached to their parent or caregiver all the time, and that, like that separation anxiety seems to be there and that maybe wasn’t there before. So you can see a regression in behavior. We can see some of those, like emotional and behavioral reactions, they might have a loss of interest in some of their activities.
They might be not paying attention, or seem like they’re not paying attention as much at school, or now that we’re in the summer, it might look a little bit different, because they might be sleeping more, or you just notice that they seem to be kind of down. Maybe they’re typically a social child and they’re no longer social. They might be complaining of headaches or tummy issues. That is a real common one with kids, or having nightmares is another one.
SM: What can parents do for their kids in these situations?
BG: We tell parents and other caregivers that we really want to re-instill that sense of safety for kids, their sense of safety has been shocked or rattled. Part of that is just letting them talk openly about their fears, about anxiety, let them express their feelings. That’s really important for them. We want to make sure that they know that we’re there for them, keeping the family together, doing family activities, doing fun things, not just all focused on disaster recovery, but still doing some fun things, even if that’s going out for that walk at night with the dog, talking about something non-disaster related. We encourage parents to restore that sense of routine and safety. We hear a lot of times from parents that my child is doing this now, but they used to never do that. And so short term, we expect to see that. We expect kids to change that behavior, and so getting back into a routine can really help model that new behavior or new routine for them. So they can, for example, if they want to even sleep with them, you know, maybe you say, OK, you know, for this week you can sleep with me, but next week, we’re going to start transitioning you back to your bedroom, and so you can fall asleep in our bed, and then we’re going to move you to your bed.
SM: I guess another question would be for those who have already struggled with mental health issues. Certainly a tornado is going to add gasoline to that fire, correct?
BG: It’s layers of trauma, right? Yeah, so you’re adding more layers, and what we are finding, especially since 2020, it seems like we’re having just one disaster after another. And then you’re adding in all the other challenges that we face day to day, whether in the community, whether it’s socioeconomic, maybe it’s just relationship issues, too. Maybe it’s work issues. You’ve got all these layers. It’s the cyclical model of trauma.
SM: You guys have talked to lots of different people. Can you give us an example of the severity of what they’re going through, what they’re asking for? How are you helping them?
BG: It looks different in every disaster. We work with them to see, one, how well they are coping. We talk to them and let them kind of tell us what their needs are, because we always take our cues from that person. So they may tell us that they need linkage to different types of resources. Maybe it’s housing, maybe it’s sheltering, maybe it is food, could be clothes, or it might be mental health services, but whatever it is, we’re connecting them to whatever we know are available in their community, and then we’re just having conversations with them about how well they are coping, how well they are getting through the day.
SM: I guess grief is a part of this, too. You don’t just grieve over loss of life.
BG: Oh, yeah. You know you can grieve loss of life and grieve having to move. You can grieve having lost things. It might be that all your picture albums were destroyed, and so there’s a lot of your memories. It might be that your child’s favorite toys were destroyed, right? So there’s a lot of things that you can grieve. It’s not just a person or an animal. It could be your house, but it also can be smaller things, too, that have a lot of meaning and memory.
SM: Is there anything else you’d like the public to know as they’re still kind of recovering and coming out from all of this?
BG: I think the Disaster Distress Helpline is something that they should be aware of. It is a national number that can be called. It’s toll-free because 24 hours, seven days a week, it’s free. It’s confidential. It’s (800) 985-5990 and that’s a really great number for people to call if they feel like they’re really struggling after the disaster. They can, of course, always call 988, as well if they are in crisis. But I think a lot of people aren’t aware of the Disaster Distress Helpline that has crisis counselors available 24/7.
