Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Vicarious Trauma and Self Care

Vicarious trauma describes the fatigue felt by overextending oneself to be a help to others, particularly in working with or listening to trauma stories. This is most common in the helping professions such as counseling and social work, though when a national disaster occurs, this can also be felt by the public exposed to images and stories related to the event. 

Such can be the case with the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. In my previous post, I discussed post traumatic stress disorder, and the common signs and symptoms. Those who experienced PTSD in the weeks and months following Sandy may still feel the lingering effects of those trying weeks. But what about those who were not as deeply affected? What about those who weren't impacted at all by the storm? These individuals, farther removed from the event, who are finding themselves feeling uneasy during this anniversary time are experiencing a normal response to exposure to graphic and emotional stimuli. Just as a counselor who spends hours a day hearing and empathizing with trauma survivors internalizes these struggles, so too can the person who is exposed to a barrage of news stories recounting the horror of last year's storm. 

If you find yourself annoyed or aggravated over the onslaught of images of destruction, or resistant to watching interviews of mothers who lost their children, and families who lost their homes, know that you are not being insensitive, but are rather having a very normal reaction. In the days to come, local news stations will continue to recount the events of last year in great detail, and we all may find ourselves thinking, "enough already."

How can you shield yourself from this vicarious trauma? For starters, not spending hours in front of your television or computer can be a powerful tool. Though this may seem common sense, it is often difficult to pull oneself away from graphic images, much like rubber necking on a highway. No one really wants to see others suffer, but a morbid curiosity inherent in us all keeps us pulled in. If media cannot be avoided entirely, either feasibly or logistically, be sure to take breaks in between your exposure to images, videos, and interviews. Take this time to focus on something completely different; engage in a manual activity, such as cleaning, to change gears from sitting and thinking to moving and doing. Take care of yourself in whatever way is most helpful; for some this is exercise, for others it is reading, maybe a hot shower or bath would help you feel relaxed and less stressed.

Again, while these suggestions may seem obvious, in times of stress we often forget to do the most basic things that keep us happy and healthy. As always, Current Counseling is here as a powerful tool for reframing, redirection, and information regarding your mental and emotional health.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Resiliency after Sandy

“Coming up on an anniversary of something like a traumatic event can ramp things up and people can feel highly anxious and depressed,” Dr. Rachel Yehuda, director of the traumatic stress studies division at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, told FoxNews.com. “It’s a time where there is a natural spike in symptoms, especially on a first year anniversary.” (read full article here)

This day marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a massive storm that ravaged the east coast, primarily New York and New Jersey. The devastation was unforeseen, and images of the wreckage barely did justice to the true reality of the storm's destruction. Without electricity and heat for over two weeks, many people experienced traumatic events such as having to evacuate their homes, loss or damage to property, inability to leave their homes, and a dramatic change in lifestyle. For several, going to work was an impossibility, and the few routines that we use as anchors for stability were not feasible. In Staten Island, you could see people siphoning gas from others' cars, and across New York and New Jersey cars stretched out for miles at gas stations. An alien sight to many, people stood on lines with handfuls of plastic gas containers, hoping to get gas before it ran out. In the chilly October weather, thousands went without heat, many in flooded homes. And as soon as we began to recover, we were hit by a tremendous snowstorm, adding further insult to injury.

Given the dramatic images and experiences of Sandy, it is not uncommon that many people also experienced acute or post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, vicarious stress was also common, as the images of the damage were quite shocking. Both acute and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) share signs and symptoms. Acute traumatic stress disorder lasts for two weeks before resolving, whereas PTSD is considered if symptoms last beyond that. Some common symptoms of PTSD include:


  • Be-experiencing the event through flashbacks, bad dreams, intruding thoughts
  • Avoidance symptoms; staying away from places or events that are reminders of the experience, feelings of numbness, depression, or worry, difficulty remembering the event
  • Hyper-arousal symptoms; being easily startled, feelings of tension, difficulty concentrating or sleeping
  • In children, these symptoms may manifest in the form of bed-wetting, being unusually clingy, and acting out the event during play.
While a year has passed and many of us have gotten back to our normal lives, it is difficult to forget how badly Sandy impacted our lives. Despite restoration and rebuilding, the toll from the aftermath on our everyday lives even today is staggering. 

So how do we continue to take care of ourselves in the wake of tragedy, even into the future? It is important to be aware of any symptoms and/or emotions you may feel at this time. Heightened arousal and intrusive thoughts and memories are common during anniversaries of traumatic events. Some may experience a resurgence of sad or depressive symptoms which can range from mild to severe. Although this is a time in which bad memories may come back, it is also an opportunity to revel in our resilience. Despite the damage and continual losses faced, we have come together as families, friends, neighbors, and even strangers, to help one another in any way we can. Through the destruction, there was a common bond that was felt among the survivors, a bond that helped heal fresh wounds then and can support us now.

Countless research has shown that sharing our stories, particularly in writing, is incredibly therapeutic and useful in the healing process. With that in mind, over the next few days I am making myself available for anyone who wishes to talk about their Sandy Story. We can talk about what happened, how you made it through those troubling weeks, and how you continue to move forward. The comment section of this blog will also be used as a way for us to reach out to one another. If you wish to talk with me directly, you can email me at: jm18893p@pace.edu.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Do Values have any Value in this Country?

High School Student Suspended for being Designated Driver


A Massachusetts high school student had just finished her shift when a friend sent her a text messaging asking if she would pick her up from a party. The girl realized she was drunk, and had the wherewithal to ask a friend for a ride home. The driver, Erin Cox, picked up her friend as the police arrived to bust the party. Her high school has suspended Erin for even appearing at this party; despite the fact that she did not have any alcohol and that the police have corroborated her story, and despite the fact that she was not there as a party goer but rather a designated driver, the school recognizes no difference in her actions or the actions of those students who partook in underage drinking. As a school with a zero tolerance policy, there is no grey area.

When I first read this story, I was reminded of "The Heinz Dilemma" posed by noted psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg held that there are three levels of moral thought, with a total of six steps from the first level to the highest level. He posed this scenario:

"A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.
Should Heinz have broken into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?"

Kohlberg argued that whether a participant believed Heinz was justified in his actions or not was not important. What was truly important was why the participant believed this. It was the reasoning that participants came up with that was telling of their levels of moral thought. In a nutshell, Kohlberg devised three levels: Pre-conventional is best thought of as basing actions on rewards and consequences; "I will do this because I will be rewarded, I will not do this because only bad people do that." Conventional thought can be conceptualized as a dualistic view of behaviors; "Things are either right or they are wrong, and if the action is wrong, then it should never be committed." The final level is called Post-conventional thought, and is described as a means of thinking in terms of one's own moral and ethical values as opposed to what society deems as right or wrong.

Why should you know this? Well, for anyone who has young children in their lives, teaching children appropriate from inappropriate behaviors is very important. However, we also know that behavior typically not allowed is allowed in certain situations. You may tell a young child that she is not permitted to use the phone without permission, but in the event of an emergency she should absolutely call 9-1-1. And so as responsible adults we hope to guide younger generations away from an dichotomous view of absolute right and wrong, and foster an ability to decide what is right for themselves (when they are old enough, of course).

This brings us to Ms. Erin Cox. Her high school's zero tolerance policy holds that any activity related to underage drinking is wrong and will not be tolerated. This means that the girl who offered a sober driver is as guilty as the teenagers engaging in underage drinking. Regardless of her actions, Erin would have been engaging in some undesirable behavior and have to deal with certain consequences; breaking a school rule will result in suspension, loss of honors and privileges that she has worked hard to earn. Should she have knowingly allowing an intoxicated young girl to remain at a party with other drunk teens?  What would you have told your child to do?

I am seriously troubled at where our society is going. On the west coast we have teenagers (with adults in their lives who allow them to) get drunk and destroy a man's home without repercussion, and on the other side of the country a school punishes a girl for acting responsibly. While it's nice that some of us recognize the absurdity of these situations, acknowledging these issues alone is not stopping them. This is a very disturbing trend that seems to be pervasive on even small levels. When was the last time you went to a store and saw a young child behave inappropriately and wonder to yourself how his/her parent just allows the child to act out in that way without saying anything? How many entitled teenagers and young adults do you know that just expect the world to be handed to them? Is there a place for values in today's America?