Understanding and Coping with Responses to Hurricanes

Foreign. Hey there everybody, and welcome to this video on 9 Tips for Understanding and coping with reactions to hurricanes. I'm your host, Dr. Donnelly Snipes. Back when I lived in Florida, I experienced multiple hurricanes over the years. And I was lucky enough, I guess, to be able to be in a position to do outreach for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. And during all of those events I learned a whole lot about people's different reactions to hurricanes and to natural disasters and to being in shelters. So I wanted to share a little bit about that with you today. There is a range of reactions when there's a hurricane coming. Some people have been through a bunch of hurricanes that have been relatively benign. So they think, well, hurricane party at my house, I don't have to work, we're not going anywhere, so let's all get together. Then there's another group that recognizes that hurricanes are part of living near the coast and have accepted that as a downside to where they live. But they love it anyway so they have more of the ah, crap, this again. They're not excited about it, but they're not terrified either. They know what they need to do. They start boarding up the windows, getting their water, all that stuff. And then there's a third group that start having a lot of anxiety about the impending hurricane and that can be because they've been through other hurricanes that were particularly devastating or for a variety of other reasons that we're going to talk about. But it's important to remember that each person's reaction to the incoming hurricane and the hurricane when it's, you know, happening is based on their schema from their prior experiences, both hurricane and non hurricane related. Empathy and compassion is really important during this time because people, regardless of their schema, may have an underlying sense of stress or irritability just be for no other reason than because things are changing and their routine is out of whack. In terms of most people, children and adults, when there's a hurricane, prior traumas and or grief can be triggered and it can be prior memories of disaster related events that they've been through and trying to cope with the aftermath, whether it's a tornado or a hurricane or a wildfire. It could be that they start thinking about the hurricane and being worried that it's going to tear their house apart and then they're going to be homeless and they've been homeless before and it triggers those fears or, and memories of being homeless or the traumas could be completely unrelated. It's important to remember that when people experience trauma, they experience A lack of safety and a lack of personal power. And hurricanes by their very nature often produce in people a sense of a lack of safety to a certain extent and a lack of personal power. You can't make the hurricane go away, you can't guarantee that there's not going to be flooding. So there's a lot of ambiguity and there's a lot of things people don't have control over, which can be terrifying and for, for a lot of people. And that can bring up memories when they have that feeling. That can bring up memories of other times that they've felt unsafe and disempowered. There's also potentially increased irritability with loss of power and entity Internet. Now back when I was going through hurricanes, there wasn't as much connectivity, if you will, but the loss of power. You start worrying about your food that's going to spoil in the fridge. You're hot, you're uncomfortable. When people are hot, they don't sleep well. When people are hot, they're irritable, not sleeping well and being hot. It's going to increase irritability in a lot of people. And that's important to recognize. There's also those people who have medical issues that tend to get worse. Remember that for example, if you are on antidepressants, your body does not cool as effectively as people who are not on antidepressants. And I do have a video on how heat impacts mood and that may be something that you want to take a look at if you are potentially sheltering in place and may not have a generator or something to help you stay cool. But there's also these days the loss of Internet and so many people are so attached to being online, to texting, to getting constant updates that if the power goes out and, or the Internet goes out and they can't have that constant contact, their anxiety may go through the roof because they're not used to not having that mobile device in their hands. We need to recognize this. It is not something that is easily dealt with for a lot of people because it is such a big part of their life and their anxiety will go, will ramp up if they're not able to get those minute by minute updates. There's increased rejection sensitivity during this time, especially if you're in an environment. In an environment where there's a lot of people that are stressed out, there's going to be more irritability and when there's more irritability then people may be less kind and things they say. So the receiver may feel More rejected. That rejection may translate to more irritability in that person. So recognize when the there's tension in the environment, people in general have increased rejection sensitivity. Before you say something, take a breath and think about how you're going to say it. If somebody says something that you feel is rejection rejecting or insensitive or ugly in some way, it's also important to take a breath and think to yourself, the good chance that wasn't about me. It's a good chance they're angry about the situation and I just happen to get in their way. Doesn't mean it's okay for people to be abusive. But it is important to recognize if somebody makes a comment that is callous, for example, or gets irritable with you for something that's very what you perceive as trivial, recognizing that the power of that reaction, the intensity of that reaction probably has more to do with the situation than you yourself. And recognize that in terms of rejection sensitivity, it's also important for those of us who are no longer in the area where the storms are coming through that there is anxiety about our loved ones who are in the storm's path. So we may have a level of apprehension, a level of anxiety. We may be more distracted. I know I am right now knowing that we've got family that are directly in the path of the storm. I know that they've done what they need to do. They've boarded up, they've gotten their supplies, yada, yada. They've been through it, you know, dozens of times. However, it still is a little anxiety provoking for me. And I have to remind myself that they've done what they need to do. And worrying about it is just going to drain my energy. Constantly checking the spaghetti models is not productive. It's not going to change that much. And if I check them, you know, twice a day, that's probably more than enough and for me to stay on top of what's going to happen, and then whatever happens, happens, and we'll deal with it. Children may be happy not to have school for a week. A lot of schools are used as shelters. So I know I was seeing online that there are a lot of schools that have already closed for the week in preparation for becoming a hurricane shelter. And if the adults are not stressed about the hurricane and the kids are not stressed out about being out of school, which they're probably not, then great, everything's copacetic. But if the adults are stressed out and the kids are thinking, hey, hurricane day, you know, don't have to Go to school, don't have to study. This is awesome. The their excitement may irritate the already agitated or anxious adults. And as adults, it's important for us to recognize that they are embracing the moment. They are embracing the fact that, hey, you know, I don't have to go to school. Might as well make the best of it. We might be able to learn something. There is going to be stuff to do. You are not going to be able to make the meetings that you were supposed to be in or get the report done that you were supposed to do because the hurricane came through. And that's just the way it is. It's important for us to recognize that we can't control that and people recognize that we cannot control that. It'll be there when we get back. And so fretting about it is just going to increase your anxiety, increase your irritability, increase the tension in your household or in the shelter, wherever you're sheltering at, and it's going to be no good. Children feed off the emotions of adults in a lot of cases. So if the adults are stressed out and irritable, the children may start acting out. They may take on that stress or irritability. They don't understand exactly why, but they recognize that their caregivers are stressed and irritable, so they start feeling stressed and irritable, or they may start acting out in ways to try to distract the parent. I've seen this many times. When caregivers start to get stressed, sometimes children will become entertainers or clown like or mascots, whatever words you want to use to try to distract the parents and quote, help them feel better. Get curious about children's behavior, well, about everybody's behavior in this situation and think to yourself, in what way is this behavior in geared to try to protect them? In what way might their some part of their brain think this is helpful? Now, children aren't sitting down thinking through it all. And adults in large part are operating on autopilot, recognizing that and recognizing that anxiety and fear are responses to threat. And when people are in this situation, when their life is kind of upended, they tend to feel more anxious and irritable and may misdirect that. And for children, their behaviors are often designed to cope with the situation in the best way they know how to. It's also important to remember that children may not understand how close or far away the storm is. So constantly watching the spaghetti models and talking about it and fretting about it, children may feel like it's a lot More imminent and they may feel a lot more anxiety for a lot longer than they really need to feel it. Explaining to them where it is, where it's moving, how fast it's moving, you know, it's moving at 15 miles an hour. So it is probably going to be here Wednesday morning. That can help them kind of take a breather because it's not going to be here for a little while. So just to summarize, tips for coping, maintain as much normalcy or routine as possible. Regardless of whether you are sheltering in place or you're in a shelter, do as much as you can to maintain those circadian rhythms. Getting up about the same time, going to bed about the same time, eating hopefully about the same times. Encourage mindful moments in yourself and others where you just take a breath and focus on where am I right now? Am I safe? What are my needs? What are my thoughts? What are my feelings? Use fact based reasoning. Yes, a hurricane is coming and yes, it's forecasted to be a big one. However, you know, have you done what you need to do? Have you boarded up your houses? I talked to my aunt the other day and she said that they're sheltering in place, they've boarded up the house and even if the storm surge comes through, they're up on a hill. So unless it was, you know, 50, 60, 70ft high, they are safe from any storm surge. So she's used that fact based reasoning and said, yes, it's coming, it's uncomfortable not to have control. However, I know that based on the facts, there's a really strong likelihood we're going to be safe. Don't stay glued to the TV or the news on your mobile device. Check it in the morning, check it in the evening if you feel you need to check twice a day. Hurricanes are slow moving. They are not going to suddenly switch, switch course in an hour. Use that energy between news breaks to take advantage of the time recognizing, okay, the stuff that you needed to do at work, you're not going to be able to get done. So what can you do with that energy? Being frustrated or anxious about the fact that you can't be at work, it's just burning a bunch of energy and actually reducing your immune system and likely reducing your pain tolerance, neither of which is going to be helpful. Try to make it an adventure or an experiment if it, if you're going through this with kids, you can try to make it an adventure. You know, let's pretend we're back in the 1800s or whatever game you can think of to to play with the kids to make it an an adventure. If you're an adult, think about it as an experiment. If maybe you can use this time to get grounded and intentionally unhook from your mobile devices, even if you still have Internet or and power, intentionally unhook and see how you feel. Recognize your triggers in context. If you start feeling anxious, angry, dysphoric, as we say, recognize am I reacting to what's going on now, or is this what's going on now reminding me of something that happened in the past? Am I safe now? Maybe I wasn't safe in the past, but am I safe now? What do I have control over now? Get curious about disruptive or problem behaviors, both in adults and and children, recognizing that those behaviors are probably communicating something, communicating fear, communicating stress, communicating something. Recognize that your hurricane schema or your beliefs about what's going to happen may be much different than somebody else's. And so some people may be very stressed out, other people may be very calm. But if a calm person says, oh, you know, you need to let go of that stress, I don't know why you're so, so stressed out, that's very invalidating. Empathize with the person who has had a different experience. You know, the person who's calm may be a great grounding force because the person who's been through the trauma may look at them and go, okay, maybe there's a different way to look at this, but it's important to empathize with both people and allow them to experience their feelings and figure out how to move forward for each of them. And finally, as I mentioned, recognize that even if you're not in the path of the hurricane, but you have loved ones who are, you may be starting to experience stress and anxiety due to the uncertainty. So be compassionate with yourself when you are. Over the next few days or few weeks, depending on how this all ends up playing out. Hurricanes can be frustrating because they're unpredictable but have a long lead time. So you've got days that you're sitting there going, well, where is it going to hit? And the spaghetti models keep changing. Anxiety, change and disruptive disruption. Disruption of routines can increase irritability for a variety of reasons. Compassion and curiosity can go a long way to help people cope during and after the storm. Instead of getting angry because somebody feels differently or somebody's acting out, approaching it with an air of compassion and curiosity can make it a much less stressful situation. Videos are in the disaster response series docsnipes.com disaster.