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Victims may need outside help to cope emotionally

Sometimes a disaster is so overwhelming that people need outside help in coping emotionally. Floods, fires, hurricanes and tornadoes can destroy crops, homes, businesses and anything else that humans can build. When this happens, people may become critical of themselves and begin to feel desperate and worthless.

A devastating feeling of helplessness is a normal reaction to a natural disaster, according to North Carolina Cooperative Extension. But when personal coping methods fail, the following signs may signal a need for outside help, usually with a mental health professional:

• physical abuse (hitting, shoving or kicking a spouse or child)
• verbal abuse (for example, a parent can say nothing good about a child or continually reprimands or criticizes the child, or a spouse's words are critical or demeaning.)
• thoughts of suicide
• thoughts or talk of marital separation
• panic attacks (feeling overcome with fear and having a racing pulse and difficulty breathing)

The following are normal reactions to severe stress, but if one or more of the signs continues for several weeks, seek outside help.

• depression (Signs include sleep-pattern changes, such as difficulty falling asleep, frequently waking in the night or too early in the morning, continual sleeping; personal care changes, such as skipping baths and shampoos; physical or mental changes, such as overeating or under-eating; a feeling of numbness or continually tiredness; loss of concentration; or constant crying.)
• inability of a parent to give needed attention to children
• behavioral problems (for example, children act up frequently or get into trouble with authorities.)
• feeling of isolation or of not having anyone to talk to
• inability to face reality, to admit the seriousness of problems or to begin to work on them

Help is available. Remember that many people in the community have been affected by the disaster, and no one has to face these problems alone.

For more information on disaster recovery, contact your county's North Carolina Cooperative Extension center or visit the Web site http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/disaster/.

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Prepared by the Department of Communication Services, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Updated September 15, 2003 — DMS

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