ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future


MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT
April 20, 2001


"The only time you can't afford to fail is the last time you try."
                                                        - Charles F. Kettering

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 SUMMER COURSE on DISASTER SERVICES and Crisis Intervention in Disasters
 A one credit course offered through the Counselor Education Department 
 at the University of Wyoming for upper level and graduate credit. The
 course will be offered on July 27-28, 2001. See the online flier for more
 details at: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news/flier.html
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 EARLY STRUGGLES IN VOCABULARY CAN HAMPER POOR CHILDREN
  When socio-economically deprived children fall behind in spoken
  vocabulary development during their first three years of life, they
  are very likely to have lifelong struggles in all their studies in
  school. Even current early intervention programs such as Head Start
  may not be enough to close this learning gap, says a Penn State
  researcher. Children in our society who grow up in poverty or near
  poverty are adversely affected by their mother's own vocabulary
  deficit when they are learning to speak at home, says Dr. George
  Farkas, professor of sociology. "Social class differences in
  vocabulary growth emerge at the very earliest ages among both Black
  and White Americans, and they attain a substantial magnitude by 36
  months of age," Farkas notes. These social class differences widen
  during the fourth and fifth years of life. For more on this story by
  Paul Blaum, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/childrenvocabulary.html
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  STUDY SHOWS POSITIVE RESULTS FROM VITAMIN D FOR MS
  A small study conducted by researchers at Penn State and Helen Hayes
  Hospital in New York City has shown that a daily dose of vitamin D
  causes changes in blood chemistry that indicate positive effects for
  multiple sclerosis patients. Dr. Margherita Cantorna, assistant
  professor of nutrition, says the study has not been in progress long
  enough to observe changes in the clinical symptoms of the disease in
  the patients who participated. However, blood samples drawn after
  just 6 months of Vitamin D supplementation, show an increase in
  transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-Beta). This is associated
  with the remission and suppression of the immune response, which
  produces symptoms in MS patients. In addition, the researchers found
  a decrease in interleuken-2, which is associated with the cells that
  induce MS. For more on this study by Barbara Hale, go to
  http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/immuneandvitaminA.html
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CHILDREN'S RESPONSES TO DISASTERS



Children’s Reactions

Children in crisis present a complex challenge. Children in various age groups
have specific needs and respond differently to the same crisis event. A serious 
problem in working with children in crisis situations is that the workers tend to 
become emotionally involved with the children they are attempting to help. 
Emotional involvement frequently interferes with proper crisis management.

Reactions of children to a disaster can have both short term and long term effects. 
A child’s view of his or her world as safe and predictable is temporarily lost. Most 
children have difficulty understanding the damage, injuries, or death that can 
result from an unexpected or uncontrollable event.

A basic principle in working with children who have experienced a disaster is 
relating to them as essentially normal children who have experienced a great 
deal of stress. Most of the problems that appear are likely to be directly related to 
the disaster and are transitory in nature. Relief from stress and the passage of time 
will help re-establish equilibrium and functioning for most children without outside help.

Children will often express anger and fear after a disaster. These will be evidenced 
through continuing anxieties about recurrence of the event, injury, death, or separation 
and loss. In dealing with children’s fears and anxieties, it is best to accept them as 
being very real to the child. The reactions of the adults around them can also make 
a great deal of difference in their recovery from the shock of a disaster. 

Generally, young children express themselves little verbally. It is their behavior that 
reveals their anxiety and fear. The intensity and duration of a child’s symptoms 
decrease more rapidly when his or her family  or other significant adults are able to 
indicate that they understand his or her feelings. Children are most fearful when they 
do not understand what is going on around them. Every effort should be made to keep 
them accurately informed, thereby relieving their anxieties. Talking with children, 
providing simple accurate information about the disaster, and listening to what they 
have to say are probably the most important things we can do. Sharing the fact that 
adults were frightened too and that it is normal and natural to be afraid is also reassuring 
to a child. It is comforting to hear “fear is natural. Everybody is afraid at times.”

Sleep disturbances are very common for children following a disaster. Behavior is likely 
to take the form of resistance to bedtime, wakefulness, unwillingness to sleep in their 
own rooms or beds, refusal to sleep by themselves, desire to be in a parent's bed or to 
sleep with a light, and insistence that the parent stay in the room until they fall asleep. 
These behaviors are disruptive to a child’s well being. They also increase stress for parents. 
Some of the more persistent bedtime problems, like night terrors, nightmares, and refusal 
to fall asleep may point to deep-seated fears and anxieties which may require professional 
intervention.

When talking with clients with children, it is helpful to explore the family’s sleep 
arrangements. They may need to develop a familiar bedtime routine. This might include 
reinstating a specific time for going to bed. The family may find it helpful to plan calming, 
pre-bedtime activities to help reduce chaos in the evening. Developing a quiet recreation 
which includes the whole family as participants can also be helpful.

The attitude of the family and the environment have great influence on the degree of 
anxiety experienced by the child and on what mechanisms the child uses in both the 
short and long term to cope with stressful situations or events.

The reaction may be immediate or delayed, brief or prolonged, intense or minimal. The 
child reacts with his/her present personality at a given level of biological and emotional 
development. The nature and intensity of the reaction will be determined by the child's 
temperament as well as past experiences. Faced with the same stressful situation, two 
children may react in entirely different ways. These reactions suggest the adaptations 
the child is making to assimilate, cope with, and "accept" the painful situation.

The reactions most often expressed will translate in various ways the child's anxiety and 
his/her defenses against it. These will vary with the age of the child. These include: fear, 
fright, sleep disturbances, nightmares, loss of appetite, aggressiveness, anger, refusal to 
go to school, behavioral problems, lack of interest in school, inability to concentrate in 
school or at play. Sometimes these difficulties occur only in school. Sometimes they only 
occur at home with the child functioning adequately in the school environment.

An anxious child needs security and, above all, love. The role of the adult consists of 
helping the child psychologically and trying to understand him/her.

Children can be spared much anxiety if we try to imagine their reaction to the event. 
Seeing through the child's eyes helps the adult to prepare the child emotionally to face 
events calmly and confidently as they occur.

Reactions can be prevented or lessened by clarifying the situation through open 
communication about the traumatic event or situation by those close to the child.

School Avoidance and School Phobias

Attending school is important for children and teens because, for the most part, school 
is the center of life with peers. School becomes the major source of activity, guidance, 
direction and structure for the child. When they avoid school, it can be generally assumed 
that a serious problem exists. One reason for not going to school may be fear of leaving 
the family and being separated from loved ones.

Parents should encourage children to return to school. They should talk with their teachers 
about any problems that are evident either at home or in school. Parent-teacher meetings 
and programs can assist in integrating school and family efforts at reassurance and can 
encourage the child to understand his/her feelings and to cope with loss and the need to 
get on with life.

It is important to be aware that each child may react differently, even within the same 
family. Each child may need a different type of help to cope with his/her feelings about 
and reactions to the disaster.


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For further information on this topic, go to the following and begin your search
by trying the following descriptors in the search engine. You can search for and
purchase books through this site:

https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
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                        Contact your local Mental Health Center or
                        check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists,
                        therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
                        your area for further information.
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                                    George W. Doherty
                                    O'Dochartaigh Associates
                                    Box 786
                                    Laramie, WY 82073-0786

MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news