- About Us
7 Locations in Colorado!
- For Providers
How to Cope With Natural Disaster Trauma
Trauma Counselors in Colorado Springs
Common Trauma Symptoms
Coping With the Trauma
When recovering from a natural disaster, it can be stressful to switch jobs or careers.
Doing these things without the weight of a natural disaster is stressful, and with the disaster, it would be even more so.
You will want to ensure you get enough sleep and avoid drugs and alcohol.
The reason to avoid drugs and alcohol is that they can numb you and steer you away from actively coping with the natural disaster trauma.
Coping is essential to move on. You might want to find a support group locally or online to connect with others who have dealt with similar natural disasters.
A support group can be really useful particularly if you have a limited personal support system.
Grief
A natural disaster is unfortunately an example of an event where multiple losses may be experienced.
As a result of a natural disaster, you may have lost someone important to you, such as a family member or close friend.
It is possible to have even lost the home that you worked many years to buy and maintain.
There are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Acceptance is where many people would like to end up. In fact, it is unlikely to get to acceptance without experiencing the depression stage.
A person may skip or repeat any stage, and may not move from one stage to another in order.
Reading up on these stages may give you further guidance on your natural disaster trauma.
How to Help Others with Natural Disaster Trauma
If you are a friend, caregiver, or family member of someone who has experienced a natural disaster trauma, then you may want to know how you can help.
The first step is to validate the person's feelings. Let them know that feeling angry, sad, or scared is normal.
Then, tell the person that you would like to have open communication, and let them know you are there to listen if they would like to discuss their feelings or experiences.
It would also be helpful to encourage the person to have a routine for normalcy and stability.
They need to keep up with their school, work, sleeping, and eating schedules to help themselves feel better.
Within this routine, ensure they have fun.
Play games or sports with them.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
As a result of a natural disaster, you or a loved one may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
If one has memory problems, substance abuse issues, depression, or other mental health issues, then this is more likely to occur.
People with PTSD may have intrusive thoughts that include involuntary and repeated memories.
Dreams may be distressing, and flashbacks are inevitable.
It is common to have distorted beliefs about themselves or others, leading to wrongful blame.
The inability to experience satisfaction or happiness is common.
A person diagnosed with PTSD may exhibit self-destructive or reckless behavior, have sleeping problems, or be startled easily.
Some people find that PTSD symptoms disappear over time, while others need professional help to work through them.
People can get professional help through research-proven methods mental health professionals use.
Medication and psychotherapy have been proven to be useful.
One may find themselves receiving trauma-sensitive interventions in their therapy.
There is also Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to get a person's traumatic memory to change and be experienced less negatively.
Conclusion
As we are reaching the end of this article, we hope that you have learned more information about natural disaster trauma than you began reading with.
Potential PTSD and other mental health concerns are to be dealt with, and the sooner the better.
You can help others who have experienced natural disasters.
If you have gone through one, then you also need to ensure you help yourself and recognize any natural disaster trauma symptoms, including those related to grief, that needs to be addressed.
There are many types of natural disasters one can experience.
People can come away from natural disasters with not only psychological but physical symptoms.
Resources
When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.
About the author
Mental Health Resources
Upcoming Events
Group Therapy
Many of us are often faced with struggles and hardships and finding help can be difficult. However, at Overcomers Counseling, we are here to help you in your time of need. We are passionate about people and we believe that ANYONE can be an overcomer if they are willing to pursue it. Don't let another day go by without getting the help you desire.
(719) 345-2424 office
(855) 719-2549 fax
5585 Erindale Dr. Ste 204 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 mailing
Support Team Hours
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | 8:00am - 5:00pm |
| Tuesday | 8:00am - 5:00pm |
| Wednesday | 8:00am - 5:00pm |
| Thursday | 8:00am - 5:00pm |
| Friday | 8:00am - 5:00pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
Comments