{"id":1798,"date":"2018-10-07T15:45:35","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T15:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stillpointcounselingandwellness.com\/2020\/02\/19\/stress-and-recovery\/"},"modified":"2018-10-07T15:45:35","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T15:45:35","slug":"stress-and-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillpointcounselingandwellness.com\/?p=1798","title":{"rendered":"Stress and Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u200bWilmington is on the road to recovery, but we certainly are not \u201cback to normal\u201d. \u00a0Hurricane Florence made her way to Wilmington almost 4 weeks ago.\u00a0 Homes and businesses were flooded at the beaches.\u00a0 Inland homes were damaged by flying debris and massive hundred-year-old trees being uprooted onto rooftops.\u00a0 Flooding continued as waters surged and rivers flooded from torrential rains.\u00a0 Some people evacuated finding themselves worried about what was happening to their homes.\u00a0 Many could not return to their homes due to continued flooding, making them feel helpless.\u00a0 Other people stayed in Wilmington to weather the storm, losing power, running out of supplies, and feeling fearful as the threat of tornados and flood waters continued long after Florence had moved out of town.\u00a0 Some people have lost everything.\u00a0 Some people have lost little.\u00a0 Some people have not been able to return to work and wages have been lost.\u00a0 Others are working tirelessly to help repair the damage.<\/p>\n

What does this all mean?\u00a0 It means things will not be \u201cback to normal\u201d again.\u00a0 Things will be okay, but they will not be the same.\u00a0 Life experiences change who we are.\u00a0 This experience has affected each person living in coastal NC, and it has affected our community as a whole.\u00a0 As we rebuild and start to repair life in Wilmington, it will be important to recognize what the immediate needs are and understand that will evolve over time. This goes for our children especially, as they may have less control of their experiences.<\/p>\n

Maslow\u2019s hierarchy of needs tells us that basic needs (food, water, shelter, safety) need to be fulfilled first followed by psychological needs (relationships, self-esteem) before self-actualization (achieving one\u2019s potential) can be accomplished.<\/p>\n

So, how does this apply to real life now?\u00a0 For some the basic needs of food, water, and shelter returned after a couple weeks.\u00a0 For many in our larger community, they continue to deal with homelessness and meeting basic needs for survival.\u00a0 Connecting individuals to disaster relief, and volunteering with local organizations who are getting supplies to individuals in need are great ways to support building the physiological needs of our community as a whole.\u00a0 If you are a teacher or work with children, remember that school performance and behaviors may be effected by this experience.<\/p>\n

The second level of our basic needs being met includes feelings of safety and security.\u00a0 When our safety is threatened, our bodies react.\u00a0 This is a stress response that is intended to help keep us safe.\u00a0 The \u201cfight, flight or freeze\u201d response is a larger conversation that I will save for a future blog post, but here is a link for more information about this response.\u00a0 This physiological response in our body is like a smoke alarm.\u00a0 Internally, our body is sending an alarm to say, \u201cThings are not right.\u00a0 Stay alert. Be ready to run.\u00a0 Be ready to fight.\u00a0 Be ready to protect yourself and those you love.\u201d\u00a0 This \u201calarm system\u201d is an evolutionary advantage for humans and helps us survive.\u00a0 The interesting thing is that during times of extreme psychological stress or trauma that alarm system can malfunction.\u00a0 It is like the battery going dead in your smoke detector, and the high-pitched alarm sound keeps going off every so often even when there is no smoke or danger for fire.\u00a0 This may look or feel like being on edge for no reason at all, increased irritability, restlessness, poor concentration, feeling \u201cjumpy\u201d, \u201cspacing out\u201d, having nightmares or disrupted sleep, tension in the body, and\/or not being able to relax.\u00a0 This response in our body means that even if we have a safe place to live and the threat of a natural disaster is not imminent, our body may still be signaling us to be on high alert.<\/p>\n

So, what do we do with this information?\u00a0 We pay attention.\u00a0 We pay attention to ourselves and our own reactions.\u00a0 We pay attention to our children and their responses.\u00a0 We pay attention to our friends, family, and community, and then we respond with appropriate resources.\u00a0 We take care of ourselves and those around us with self-care, rest, proper nutrition, exercise, and breath work.\u00a0 We practice mindfulness and respond to others with kindness and compassion.\u00a0 We manage our own expectations as we enter this \u201cnew normal\u201d.\u00a0 We talk to our kids.\u00a0 Ask about how they are feeling.\u00a0 Ask if they have questions about what is happening and the changes that are occurring.\u00a0 Validate their feelings.\u00a0 Support them in finding the resources they need to feel healthy in the mind and body.<\/p>\n

As a community, we are recovering.\u00a0 We will be OKAY, but it is also OKAY to hold space for what has been lost and what may continue to change.\u00a0 In addition, understanding how this experience has impacted you and your children in important.\u00a0 Some will be resilient.\u00a0 Resilience is once again another huge topic that can be addressed in later blogs, but for some this experience will have little impact psychologically and physically.\u00a0 For others, this experience may lead to acute stress responses, more severe trauma responses congruent with PTSD, or adjustment problems after the event.\u00a0 Below are some ideas to help deal with general stress; however, if you notice ongoing problems please reach out to a mental health professional for support.<\/p>\n

Ways to help your children deal with stress:<\/p>\n

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  1. Deep breathing\n