The physical damage can be taken care of over time but what about the psychological impact of the disaster on people, especially children? How does one get over the trauma?
Studies on impact of disasters show that pre-school and school children suffer the most psychologically. Their impressionable minds bear the scars of the trauma for indefinite periods. A minority of the children may fall prey to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Some may even develop suicidal tendencies. If not addressed on time, the mental maladies can leave their mark on one's personality for life.
But do all natural disasters evoke similar fear and anguish among children? No. Because of the different nature of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes, our psychological response to them also differs.Aftershocks differentiate earthquakes from other natural disasters. As it is impossible to precisely predict when the aftershocks will end, disruptions caused by continued tremors increase psychological distress. Unlike other natural disasters, like hurricanes, typhoons and certain types of floods, earthquakes occur with virtually no warning. The quake victims are caught unawares and are psychologically unprepared to cope. While one can climb to higher ground during a flood or take protective measures before a hurricane, there is usually no advance warning or immediate preparation for earthquakes.
According to researchers in Florida and California, children's reactions depend on specific risk factors like exposure to actual event, personal injury or loss of a loved one, level of parental support, dislocation from their home or community, the level of physical destruction, and pre-existing risks, such as a previous traumatic experience or mental illness.
The typical trauma symptoms in preschoolers could be thumb sucking, bed-wetting, clinging to parents and elders, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, fear of the dark, regression in behavior, and withdrawal from friends and routines. Elementary school children may display irritability, aggressiveness, clinginess, nightmares, school avoidance, poor concentration, etc.
However, it becomes very difficult for adults to deal with the questions and fears that children develop during such crises. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to assist adults in order to help them in assisting children.
Dr. Barbara Preitler, psychologist and psychotherapist at the Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt, Austria, has suggested various techniques for counseling victims of natural exigencies in her recently launched SAGE publication Grief and Disappearance: Psychosocial Interventions.
Prof. Preitler says that in situations of crisis children are often expected to behave especially mature. "Especially in the middle of a crisis situation it can help children if you create safe islands for them, situations in which, despite the general instability surrounding them, they can feel safe at least once a day," she writes.
Life may be suspended. But once a couple of days have passed, it is generally beneficial to return to one's state of normalcy as much as possible. Normalcy helps children overcome traumatic situations and to understand that normal life is still possible. If their parents are overwhelmed by a certain traumatic event, then teachers, relatives or social workers can assist in establishing the routines of normal life for the children.
From the many therapeutic suggestions provided by Prof. Preitler a few are listed here.
Games: Play with them. The best games to play during such difficult times involve all children at the same time without creating a competition between them. (Where there is a winner there is a loser as well—and these children have to deal with enough loss as it is. There is no need for them to face it in games as well!)
Here are some examples for such games:
• Hand clapping: All participants stand in a circle and pass a clap along the circle. First, you start out slowly, then, gradually, the clap travels faster and faster from one child to the next. The children have the choice between clapping only once—then the clap keeps on getting passed along in the same direction— or clapping twice—then the clap changes direction.
• Movement around the circle: One child starts out with a specific movement of their choice. One child after the other repeats the movement, letting it pass through the circle like a wave. Then the next child presents a move that gets passed along through the circle, until all children have had a chance.
• One child starts by saying a single word that could be the beginning of a sentence. The next person repeats this word and adds a second word and so on. The words should follow grammatical rules to build a sentence. Let's see what sentence the group will create.
• We can do a similar exercise on a black board as well. One child starts out with one line, the next continues by adding another line—each child can draw once or twice. In the end, we have a picture created by the group. Now we can ask somebody to be an art expert and explain what we can see.
And there are many more you also can create yourself. These kinds of games need little to no materials and can be played in the span of a few minutes, or for longer, if desired. Encourage children to play! Give them space for their games!
Story telling: All children like to listen to stories. Through the power of their imagination, they can travel to the places in the stories. Stories work so well as 'islands' in days of stress, because the children get a chance to sit down for a while and listen to a story where the world is in order and where everything eventually leads to a happy ending. It might be good to tell positive stories before going to bed to calm the children's minds and set them at ease.
Transitional objects: Children might need objects representing their loved ones to help them handle their fears and situations of separation. Therefore, children should have such 'transitional objects', like a little toy given to them by their father, or a picture of their mother, etc. They should be allowed to keep these objects with them wherever they go, even to school.
Younger children especially might only feel safe if their doll or teddy or even a specific piece of cloth is with them. Allow this! Children that do not have such a transitional object to help them yet can be invited to choose such an object.
Rituals: Rituals can help to control fear by creating a routine, a state of normality. Rituals performed as a group also create a feeling of belonging together for the members of this group, which helps to reduce the ever-threatening feelings of loneliness and helplessness.
Families can perform rituals on a regular basis, such as, every morning and evening (for some families, this might be done in a religious context). School classes or children's clubs can perform rituals as well—existing, traditional ones or rituals created especially for this group. All these rituals can help in establishing a feeling of safety and stability, of being protected by the group.
The author is chairman of Basant Chaudhary Foundation, poet, writer and social enthusiast
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