Spring Break
Counselors teach disaster coping skills
By César G Rodriguez
Issue date: 5/18/06 Section: J School Travels
Originally published: 6/1/06 at 2:52 PM CSTLast update: 6/2/06 at 10:30 AM CST
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Dianne Nzinga said she is trying to rebuild to get back to her house on Michoud Boulevard where she lived for 27 years.
"I thought I'd be back in three days," Nzinga said four months later.
Cheryl Gore said, "I cried" after seeing her business trailer park destroyed in Sabine Pass. "The trailers were like smashed together."
Claire Assavedo, a resident from St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans, said, "Our entire parish was flooded."
How people recover from a hurricane depends on how psychologically healthy they are, psychotherapist Faye Lafluer said.
A psychologically healthy person would be a person who has problems but does not let the problems bother him while accomplishing normal tasks such as working, Lafluer said.
When a person lets problems take over a routine, the person suffers psychologically because problems will be the person's priority and not what needs to be accomplished, Lafluer explained.
"We are a little bit neurotic," Lafluer said, adding this is a normal situation as long as problems do not interfere with lifestyle.
Angie Rigney, supervisor of adult services of the mental health center in Metairie, La., said many people needing counseling have different symptoms.
Sometimes people have early wake-ups, flashbacks of the hurricane and anxiety.
Families grieve over their loss of homes, and the fear of being displaced results in an anxiety about living in the unknown, Lafluer said, adding some people ended up in an environment different from where they used to live.
Dr. Anthony Speier said people get depressed when talking about a plan of recovery because they have to ponder the situation they are living in.
Speier is director of the Louisiana Spirit, a counseling program funded by FEMA through the Louisiana Office of Mental Health.
The name Louisiana Spirit came up as the strength of individuals emerged after the hurricane. "It was a name that embodied the strength of citizens," Speier said. "The focus was to help people."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
maria008
posted 8/19/08 @ 6:54 AM CST
Bring people together and inspire people, such as meeting to share survivor experiences is a nice program.It is helpful to the other persons How the person will be when he suffered from traumatic stress disorders. (Continued…)
Rapid Detox
posted 11/30/08 @ 8:57 AM CST
I believe that there should be more and more people specialized on different kind of problems. The thing is that we are living in a world where everyone is stressed and a lot of 'diseases' tend to put hold on our lives. (Continued…)
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