Emotional Disaster Preparedness Actions

Four Foundational Activities for Empowerment in Disasters

Aug 24, 2008

As a group, these focus on building resilience, information, and empowerment before, during, and after emergencies. Activities 1-4 are in this installment.

These foundational activities can be deliberately interwoven into all aspects of emergency preparedness training and educational programs. They apply to the general public, disaster professionals and trained volunteers. Each of these activities will help speak to the emotional underpinnings of all-hazards planning; none are specific to any particular type of emergency.

1. Describe Normal Anticipation. Name and talk about the natural range of feelings people are likely to experience when they think about emergencies. These are often, "I feel overwhelmed...I'm afraid I won't know what to do...that I'll freeze/panic...I don't think I'll be able to cope..." This can help start to bring "the elephant in the room" into view.

2. Reduce Anxiety. Discuss good approaches to reducing anxiety (e.g., keep informed from credible sources, get busy preparing, talk with others for support). Emphasize reducing anxious anticipation and inability to cope through good preparedness. Remember: research supports that solid information is the antidote to panic, not its cause. Educate that talking about preparedness for potential emergencies will decrease anxiety or panic. Affirm that a lack of well-grounded information actually increases anxiety.

3. Describe When to Worry. People are often afraid that once they starting thinking about emergencies, they will get pulled down in an eternal morass of fear and terror. Discuss unusual or abnormal responses to anticipatory emergencies (e.g., persistent disturbance in sleeping, eating, working, suicidality, episodes of violence, increased drug/alcohol dependence to manage feelings, growing depression, panic attacks, or inability to carry out normal tasks of daily living). Discuss who is most at risk for substantial problems (e.g., most people are not). Talk about different types of professional help available within the community for that group of people who do experience these types of difficulties.

4. Normalize Post-Disaster Emotions. It is very common to experience a state of shock, confusion, numbness, anger and/or helplessness following a disaster. It is vital to discuss this range of normal reactions before disaster strikes. Knowing that feeling bad -- even very bad -- for a period of time is not abnormal or a sign of mental illness helps people become more comfortable engaging in emergency planning discussions. Emphasize that those experiencing this normal range of emotions can still receive help and support. Affirm that people usually do feel better over time.

In last part, the final four of the eight foundational activities for Emotional Disaster Preparedness.