Some say it's more difficult now than immediately after storm
Today Leynes lives in a fly-covered pup tent. He's bearded and haggard, each day wearing the same camouflage green shorts and thousand-yard stare. He's trying to fend off a deepening depression with cans of beer and Valium, and on some days the 49-year-old man is barely coherent.
But the sedatives and the passage of time are not helping. It's getting harder to sleep, harder to smile, harder not to cry at the memory of discovering the hand-in-hand corpses of two little girls.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/09/23/katrina.emotional.ap/index.html
"I'm losing my mind," he says.
It's been nearly a month since Hurricane Katrina wrecked the lives of thousands of people. But many of the storm's survivors are finding it harder to cope today than immediately after the storm.
While the victims of the Gulf Coast and especially New Orleans are without question, grieving the greatest losses, we are all grieving.
We all feel the betrayal by those government agencies/institutions that were supposed to "be there."
We grieve the loss of lives, the cities and wetlands, the beautiful coastal region, and the loss of what is yet to come.
We know the horror of the thousands of bodies yet to be discovered, the devastation yet to be revealed in lives of families and children, and the untold environmental damage yet to come.
We grieve the loss of the seafood industry that is being destroyed by the toxic waste being pumped out of the city of New Orleans. Results of water samples that were tested reveal amounts of e coli bacteria equal to that in raw sewage; lead and mercury in unsafe amounts and untold numbers of other chemicals.
The anger is raw, loud and painful, and serves both to ensure that we will NEVER let this happen again, and to protect us from the great grief we feel at the edges now and will feel in full force in the weeks and months to come.
I offer some thoughts grief and healing below for all of us.
Allow Yourself to Grieve
Grieving is your mind and body's natural way to help you heal from your terrible loss. Allow yourself to cry to express your loss; it will make you feel better faster. Talking to others or writing your thoughts and feelings on paper also helps people to express their losses and to heal. Grieving is natural and very healthy.
Accept Help from Others
Help and support from others will ease the pain that you are feeling. People and pets have an amazing capacity to heal each other. Take their help, it will make you and them feel better. Sometimes it is normal for people to feel numb after a disaster so they may not know to offer you help; ask them for their help because it will help them to reconnect with people. It will make you and them feel better. Help other people and your pets when you have the strength to do so, it will make you feel better.
Set Up a Memorial to Honor Your Losses
Memorials honor your loved ones and help you to remember them in a healthy way. Some people memorialize others by using photographs or doing things like dedicating a special tree in someone's honor. Make a memorial that feels right for you and honors the loved ones you lost, including pets. Memorials really help.
Set Up a Safe, Quiet, and Warm Place for You to Heal
Create a sanctuary like place for yourself while you heal. The place should be quiet and comfortable so that you can reflect and grieve in a place where you feel safe. Use calming and healing items there such as candles, religious items, heirlooms, and other items that will give peace and strength. When you heal you will know when the time is right to return this space back to its regular purpose.
Trust Yourself that You Will Heal
Never give up hope. Healing is within every single person. You will discover strengths in yourself that you never knew you had. Just take it one day at a time and you will get there. Healing will take time and effort, but it always happens.
Assess If You Can Cope With This on Your Own
Think of an imaginary stress meter with a scale from 1 to 10. Think of a score of 1 equaling no stress at all and a 10 equaling the most stress that you could ever imagine. Be honest and rate your stress level. If you scored a 1, 2, or 3 you are doing well and can probably handle the stress on your own. If you score a 4, 5, or 6 you would benefit from talking with a friend or family member who really cares about you. If you score a 7, 8, 9, or 10 you are in crisis and should seek help from a counselor immediately. You will be surprised as to how quickly you can lower your stress level if you ask someone to help you.
Free therapy Resources http://www.find-a-therapist.com