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"The only time the average child is as good as gold is
on April 15." - Ivern Boyett
Behavioral Health Online
http://www.behavioralhealthonline.com
This site, geared for behavioral health professionals
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education, products, services and articles on mental
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articles or other editorial comments. They can also
access a list of conferences, an online bookstore and
a referral service for patients.
* * * * *
The Positive Psychology Summit 2000 offers travel
stipends to graduate and postdoctoral students who are
interested in positive psychology. Stipends are to be
used to attend the Oct. 13-15 conference in Washington,
D.C. Maximum award is $900. A complete application will
include a letter of recommendation from a faculty sponsor,
a copy of transcript, and a one-page-or-less statement
of interests and qualifications for attending, all sent
in a single package. Early mailing of package is
encouraged. Contact: Ed Diener, Dept. of Psychology,
University of Illinois, 603 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL
61820; email: ediener@s.psych.uiuc.edu
* * * * *
Advancing school-based mental health programs - Sept. 21-23
Atlanta, is sponsored by the Center for School Mental
Health Assistance (CSMHA). Contact: University of
Maryland, Psychiatry, 680 W. Lexington St., 10th Floor,
Baltimore, MD 21201-1570 (888) 706-0980; fax: (410) 706-0984;
email: csmha@umpsy.umaryland.edu
Web site: http://csmha.umaryland.edu
* * * * *
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AGE RELATED REACTIONS OF CHILDREN TO DISASTERS
Most parents recognize when their children's behavior
indicates emotional distress. The two most frequent
indicators are:
* Change
The children change their behavior, reacting and
doing things which are neither typical nor in their
usual style. For example, they may change from
active children to apathetic ones, or from being
independent to being clinging and whining.
* Regression
Behaviors which were seen in earlier phases of
development, such as thumbsucking or soiling, may
reappear.
The following identifies the most frequently occurring
reactions of children in response to a disaster. For
convenience, the reactions are presented by three age
groups: preschool or early childhood, latency age, and
preadolescence and adolescence. Much overlap of symptoms
occurs among the groups.
1. Preschool, 5 Years Old and Younger
Generally, the world of small children is based on
predictable events in a stable environment,
peopled by dependable persons. These provide
security for further development and growth. Any disaster
which affects this familiar order may result in emotional
distress which will vary in almost direct proportion to
the degree of disruption in these areas.
Most of the symptoms appearing in this young age group
express in a nonverbal way the fears and anxieties the
children have experienced as a result of the disruption
of their secure world. These symptoms include:
* crying in various forms, with whimpering, screaming,
and explicit cries for help
* immobility, with trembling and frightened expressions
* running either toward the adult or in an aimless motion
* excessive clinging
* Regressive behavior - that is, behavior that was
considered acceptable at an earlier age and that the
parent had regarded as past, may appear. This includes:
~ thumbsucking
~ bed wetting
~ excessive clinging and whining
~ loss of bowel/bladder control
~ fear of darkness or animals
~ fear of being left alone or of crowds or strangers
~ asking to be dressed or fed
* Other symptoms indicative of fears and anxieties
include:
~ night terrors
~ nightmares
~ inability to sleep without a light or unless
someone is present
~ inability to sleep through the night
~ marked sensitivity to loud noises
~ weather fears - lightning, rain, high winds
~ irritability
~ confusion
~ sadness, especially over loss of persons or
prized possessions
~ speech difficulties
~ eating problems
The above symptoms may appear immediately after the
disaster or after the passage of days or even weeks.
Most often, they are transient and soon disappear. When
the symptoms persist, however, the parents should
recognize that a more serious emotional problem has
developed. Professional mental health counseling may
be sought, but many of the above symptoms can be
diminished by the parents themselves through understanding
of the basis for the behaviors and giving extra attention
and caring.
2. Latency Age - 6 Years Through 11 Years
Fears and anxieties continue to predominate in the
reactions of children in this age group. However, the
fears show an increasing awareness of real danger to
self and to the children's significant persons, such as
family and loved ones. The reactions also begin to include
the fear of damage to their environment. Imaginary fears
which seem unrelated to the disaster may also appear.
As with the preschool group, regressive behaviors appear,
some of them marked in degree. Problem behaviors include:
* bed wetting
* night terrors
* nightmares
* sleep problems, such as:
~ unwillingness to fall asleep
~ interrupted sleep
~ need for a night light
~ fear of sleeping alone
~ fears of darkness or animals
* weather fears
* irrational fears, such as:
~ safety of buildings
~ fear of lights in the sky
Additional behavior and emotional problems may show as:
* irritability
* disobedience
* depression
* excessive clinging
* headaches
* nausea
* visual or hearing problems
Loss of prized possessions, especially pets, seems to
hold special meaning. The school environment and the
increasingly important role of peers lend another
dimension to the behaviors already outlined above.
School problems begin to appear and may take the form of:
* refusal to go to school
* behavior problems in school
* poor performance
* fighting
* withdrawal of interest
* loss of ability to concentrate
* distractibility
* peer problems, such as:
~ withdrawal from playgroups
~ withdrawal from friends
~ withdrawal from previously enjoyed activities
~ refusal to go to the playground or to parties
* aggressive behavior, such as:
~ frequent fights with siblings or friends
Some researchers have noted that school children may
show even more disturbance than preschool children
subsequent to a disaster. This may be because the small
children remain closer to the family, their safe base.
The older children, who are in the community and in
school, are more aware of the extended world. Some of
that larger world has also been disrupted.
Duration of thesymptoms, which generally can be considered
"normal" if they occur for only a short period during
or immediately after the disaster, again determines, in
part, the severity of the reaction. When these symptoms
persist beyond several weeks, professional consultation
should be sought.
3. Preadolescence And Adolescence - 12 Years through
17 Years
Adolescents are faced with two main tasks:
* to integrate and adapt to the physiological
revolution within themselves, and
* to prepare themselves for the tangible adult tasks
ahead of them.
They are preoccupied with how to connect their roles
and skills with the occupational prototypes of their
culture and are hampered by excessive concern over what
they appear to be in the eyes of others. Conformity is
the outstanding characteristic of adolescence, but it is
essentially conformity with a peer group and its standards.
The adolescents have a great need to appear competent to
the world around them, especially to their family and
friends. The young people are struggling to achieve
independence from the family and are torn between the
desire for increasing responsibility and the ambivalent
wish to maintain the more dependent role of childhood.
Frequently, struggles occur with the family because the
peer group seems to have become more important than the
parental world to preadolescent and adolescent children.
In the normal course of events, this struggle between
adolescents and family, and within the young people
themselves, plays itself out and, depending on the basic
relationship between the adolescents and the family, the
trials and problems are resolved.
A major disaster may have a number of effects on adolescents,
depending on the extent to which it disrupts the
functioning of the family and community. It may stimulate
fears conserning the loss of their family. It may
stimulate fears related to their own bodies and their
intactness. It disrupts their peer relationships and
perhaps their school life. It threatens their growing
emancipation from the family because of the family's
need to pull together. It threatens the adolescents with
reactivated fears and anxieties from earlier stages of
development.
The trouble signs to watch for in preadolescents and
adolescents include:
* withdrawal and isolation
* physical complaints, such as:
~ headaches
~ stomach pain
* depression and sadness
* suicidal ideation
* antisocial behavior, such as:
~ stealing
~ aggressive behavior, acting out
* school problems, such as:
~ avoidance
~ disruptive behavior
~ academic failures
* sleep disturbances, such as:
~ sleeplessness
~ night terrors
~ withdrawal into heavy sleep
* confusion
Most of these behaviors are transitory and disappear
within a short period. When these behaviors persist,
they are readily apparent to the family and to teachers,
who should respond quickly. Teenagers who appear to be
withdrawn and isolated, and who isolate themselves from
family and friends, are experiencing emotional difficulties.
They may be concealing fears that they are afraid to
express. Adolescents often show their emotional distress
through physical complaints, as many adults do.
* * * * *
For further information and/or to look for other
literature and self-help books, use the search engine
below or go to:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
Use descriptors such as: children, disasters, disaster
mental health, etc.
Books
Enter keywords...
********************************************************
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.
*********************************************************
George W. Doherty
O'Dochartaigh Associates
P.O. Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
Crisis Intervention Training
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odoc/crisis.html
Traumatology-e
http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma
Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/current.htm
Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Newsletter
https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT
July 7, 2000
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"The best career advice given to the young is 'Find
out what you like doing best and get someone to pay
you for doing it.'" - Katherine Whitehorn
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I will be leading a number of cultural trips within the
next year to 18 months. One will be a 21 day trip to
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If, after reviewing it, you are interested in further
more detailed information, please email me at:
larlion@usa.net
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Brain Connection
http://www.brainconnection.com
This site explains neuroscience research to the general
public, covering such topics as how brain research
applies to education, common myths about the brain and
the effects of various chemicals on the brain. The site
also features neuroscience-related clip art that
visitors can download for free.
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CHILDREN RESPONSES TO DISASTERS
Disasters impose severe strains on everyone in the
community. However, children are particularly vulnerable
and require special attention and programs.
Disasters vary in size, scope, extent of damage, loss of
life, injury, and degree of disruption to the family and
the community. They may be natural or manmade events,
extend over a few moments or many months, and include
such events as tornados, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes,
floods, tsunamis ("tidal waves"), volcanic eruptions,
dam breaks, explosions, nuclear accidents, fires,
transportation crashes, structural collapses, and others.
From a mental health perspective, work with victims of
disasters has suggested a classification of stages
related to emotional reactions:
* HEROIC PHASE
This phase appears at the time of the disaster and
is characterized by people working together to save
each other and their property. Excitement is intense,.
and people are concerned with survival.
* HONEYMOON PHASE
This is a relatively short (2 weeks to 2 months)
postdisaster period in which the victims feel buoyed
and supported by the promises of governmental and
communal help and see an opportunity to reconstitute
quickly. Optimism continues high, losses are counted
and plans to re-establish are made.
* DISILLUSIONMENT PHASE
Lasting anywhere from several months to a year or
more, this phase contains unexpected delays and
failures which emphasize the frustration from
bureaucratic confusion. Victims turn to rebuilding
their own lives and solving their own individual
problems.
* RECONSTRUCTION PHASE
This phase may last for several years. It is
characterized by a coordinated individual and
community effort to rebuild and re-establish normal
functioning.
The above stages are helpful in understanding the
pressures affecting children. As adults go through
these stages, their abilities to handle the disruptions
and frustrations have both direct and indirect effects
upon the children. These effects contribute to the
emotional reactions of the children, who already may be
emotional about the disruption and/or loss of secure
environment, stable relationships, and predictable
interactions. Their reactions, in turn, exert a
reciprocal influence on their parents. It becomes clear
that symptoms can only be understood in the context of
the entire family's reactions and the impact of the
disaster on the family's life.
Reactions of children to disasters have both short-term
and long-term effects. These are not necessarily
sequential. They may be short or long term in terms of
immediate or delayed appearance after the disaster, or
both.
The children and their families are primarily normal
people. However, because of the severe stress, their
functioning may be temporarily disrupted. Relief from
stress and passage of time re-establish equilibrium
and functioning for most of them, even without outside
help. Informed intervention can speed recovery and in
many instances can help prevent serious problems later.
The basic unit of treatment, when possible, should
be the entire family, not just the individual child.
The family is the first-line resource for helping the
children and should be considered before involving
other treatment resources.
Because most of the clients are normal, mental illness
labels should be avoided. Descriptive terms, not
professional jargon, should be used to identify or
classify individuals.
Selection of the label or name for the crisis services
is left to the individual program. The name should
not cause any potential client to hesitate to use the
service for fear of being branded with the stigma of
mental illness. The concept of the agency providing
"someone to talk to" is a neutral way of identifying
the service.
The traditional model approach should be avoided.
Workers in disasters should seek out users of their
services rather than wait to be sought out. Outreach
teams can use disaster assistance centers, schools,
Red Cross evacuation centers, and other community
centers to provide information on the availability of
crisis counseling services for children and families.
These teams can also go to homes, mobile centers, or
other relocation areas. The media are helpful in
informing the public of available services. A press
release or press interview and radio and TV appearances
can inform the public of the location and phone number
of crisis services and other pertinent information.
Newspapers, TV and radio can also be useful in
communicating advice to parents on the best way to
help their children.
*********************************************************
To search for further information and books and to
order and purchase books on this or other subjects,
go to:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
*********************************************************
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.
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
George W. Doherty
O'Dochartaigh Associates
P.O. Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
Cross-cultural Counseling in Disaster Settings
http://www.massey.ac.nz/%7Etrauma/issues/1999-2/doherty.htm
Crisis Intervention Training
https://www.angelfire.com/biz2/dmhs/crisis.html
Traumatology-e
http://www.fsu.edu/~trauma
Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/current.htm
Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Newsletter
https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
