Fires – a traumatic experience, but help is at hand
After the devastating Garden Route fires, and being involved with affected folk daily, FAMSA shared this information regarding trauma.
TRAUMA is defined as exposure to actual or threatened death, or serious injury. Even if you were not exposed, just knowing someone who was causes anxiety. This disaster was unanticipated and our usual protective mechanisms did not work out as expected.
Traumatised people
Every person is different and experiences trauma differently. Distressed but resilient people recover quickly, but may still experience the responses for a while afterwards. Some people talk about the event, others may choose not to – nobody should be forced to speak about the incident.
Emotions are normal Emotions that may be experienced include shock, disbelief, anger, guilt, sadness, frustration, helplessness, and depression.
Post traumatic responses
Tiredness, nightmares, mood swings, memory failure, concentration problems, too much or inability to sleep, muscle tension, social withdrawal, flashbacks of the event – these responses happen to most people. And they will pass.
If they persist, professional help must be sought for an assessment. Some people may experience some or none of these responses. This too is normal.
Coping strategies
Reach out. Ask for help, cry if you want to, talk about the experience should you have the need to, exercise, pray or meditate, write about the event, rest, listen to music and eat balanced meals, try and maintain the same routine as before the event if possible.
Should distress continue over a longer period, it could lead to anxiety and depression.
Children
Research has shown that children are influenced by how their parents are affected by the event. After fires in Australia,children were assessed; after 26 months, it was found that these children had higher distress levels than before as a result of parents feeling anxious and unsafe.
Children need to feel safe so they need to be reassured. Try and limit the images they see about the event, allow them to talk, but do not force them and be patient.
FAMSA encourages all parents and caregivers to reach out and receive trauma support (or relevant info) from counsellors at FAMSA or from therapists trained in trauma support. This will help equip you emotionally to help your children.
Contact FAMSA Plett on 044 533 0515 or Knysna on 044 382 5129 for more info or for an appointment.
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