It’s normal for hurricanes to cause people to experience emotional distress. Feelings such as overwhelming anxiety, constant worrying, trouble sleeping, and other depression-like symptoms are common responses before, during, and after these types of storms. Other signs of emotional distress related to hurricanes include:
- Constant yelling or fighting with family and friends
- Having thoughts, memories, or nightmares related to the storm that you can’t seem to get out of your head
These are just a few warning signs of disaster-related distress. Learn more about warning signs and risk factors for emotional distress related to hurricanes and other disasters.
Where Can I Get Help?
The Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) is the first national hotline dedicated to providing year-round disaster crisis counseling. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.
Call or text 1-800-985-5990
Once warnings and evacuation orders are issued, the risk for emotional distress becomes greater:
- You may feel unprepared, isolated, overwhelmed, or confused. Uncertainty about where to go during a hurricane, how to keep your pets safe, or whether you will be able to continue taking any medications can cause emotional distress.
- You may lose contact with a loved one in an impacted area due to power and Internet outages.
- You may experience difficult memories and emotions associated with similar traumatic experiences in the past.
- If you are relocated, being in an unfamiliar environment can be difficult, especially for people with limited physical mobility, economic means, or knowledge of the English language.
Returning to a home, business, school, or place of worship impacted by a hurricane may cause additional distress, especially if there is structural damage. A temporary or permanent loss of employment may also occur.
Remember, too, that the anniversary of a disaster or tragic event can renew feelings of fear, anxiety, and sadness in disaster survivors. Certain smells or sounds, such as smoke or sirens, can also trigger emotional distress. These and other environmental sensations can take people right back to the event, or cause them to fear that it’s about to happen again. These “trigger events” can happen at any time.
People can experience a wide range of emotions before and after a disaster or traumatic event. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. However, it’s important to find healthy ways to cope when these events happen. Learn about coping tips for dealing with hurricanes, tropical storms, and other types of disasters.
Remember, the single biggest stress reliever is to prepare with supplies, and plans and when they order an evacuation, leave.
33707news.com 