21 Things You Can Do While You're Living Through a CrisisShare
by Dr. Mark Lerner, President, Institute for Traumatic Stress

1. Take immediate action to ensure your physical safety and the safety of others. If possible, remove yourself from the event/scene in order to avoid further traumatic exposure.

2. Address your acute medical needs. If you’re having difficulty breathing, experiencing chest pains or palpitations, seek immediate medical attention.

3. Find a safe place that offers shelter, water, food and sanitation.

4. Become aware of how the event is affecting you (your feelings, thoughts, actions and your physical and spiritual reactions).

5. Know that your reactions are normal responses to an abnormal event. You are not “losing it” or “going crazy.” It’s okay not to be okay, right now.

6. Speak with your physician or healthcare provider and make him/her aware of what has happened to you.

7. Be aware of how you’re holding-up when there are children around you. Children will take their cues from the adults around them.

8. Try to obtain information. Knowing the facts about what has happened will help you to keep functioning.

9. If possible, surround yourself with family and loved ones. Realize that the event is likely affecting them, too.

10. Tell your story. And allow yourself to feel. It’s okay not to be okay during a traumatic experience.

11. You may experience a desire to withdraw and isolate, causing a strain on significant others. Resist the urge to shut down and retreat into your own world.

12. Traumatic stress may compromise your ability to think clearly. If you find it difficult to concentrate when someone is speaking to you, focus on the specific words they are saying and work to actively listen. Slow down the conversation and try repeating what you have just heard.

13. Don’t make important decisions when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Allow trusted family members or friends to assist you with necessary decision-making.

14. If stress is causing you to react physically, use controlled breathing techniques to stabilize yourself. Take a slow deep breath by inhaling through your nose, hold your breath for five seconds and then exhale through your mouth. Upon exhalation, think the words “relax,” “let go,” or “I’m handling this.” Repeat this process several times.

15. Realize that repetitive thinking and sleep difficulties are normal reactions. Don’t fight the sleep difficulty. Try the following: eliminate caffeine for four hours prior to your bedtime, create the best sleep environment you can, consider taking a few moments before turning out the lights to write down your thoughts, thus “emptying” your mind.

16. Give yourself permission to rest, relax and engage in non-threatening activity. Read, listen to music, or consider taking a warm bath.

17. Physical exercise may help to dissipate the stress energy that has been generated by your experience. Take a walk, ride a bike, or swim.

18. Create a journal. Writing about your experience may help to expose yourself to painful thoughts and feelings and, ultimately, enable you to assimilate your experience.

19. If you find that your experience is too powerful, allow yourself the advantage of professional and/or spiritual guidance, support and education.

20. Try to maintain your schedule. Traumatic events will disrupt the sense of normalcy. We are all creatures of habit. By maintaining our routines, we can maintain a sense of control at a time when circumstances may lead us to feel a loss of control.

21. Crises present opportunities. Cultivate a mission and purpose. Seize the energy from your experience and use it to propel you to set realistic goals, make decision and take action.

http://www.InstituteforTraumaticStress.org

I think we also need to recognize that often those suffering from PTSD and other trauma-associated stress often don't realize what's happening. As such, it is important that those journalists who may be reporting on difficult issues or in conflict situations should be provided with information on how to self-evaluate at least on a basic level. If someone doesn't know they're suffering from trauma then they can't seek help.

Michelle Betz
Media Development Consultant

for those that are about to take up such assignments, try as much as possible not to allow such happenings affect your emotions by keeping an emotional distance from the happenings you encounter as you do your daily job. tell yourself that it is not your fault that such negative happenings occur and do your best to help the situation by highlighting the problem through effective story-telling of the issue.
E. A Omordia

after covering a government sponsored genocide and seeing over 10,000 people butchered and kids rendered orphan and all this being justified, i slipped into depression. There was one particular moment when I was walking and It was a religious place so i had to be barefeet and there I saw something touching me. Fingers of some child butchered by the fanatics. This image became terribly haunting.
I lost sleep. Gained terrible weight Over 20 kilograms in a year. slipped into depression and generally lost interest in life. family life suffered too.
Later on, I took on to yoga. Meditative techniques and chan ting of Sanskrit shlokas is gradually helping me. Pity that corporates and news paper barons fight for justice and put lives of news persons in danger but it is actually injustice that they do not invest in their reporters' mental health. at least in my part of the world
D
Gujarat, INDIA>

Escuchar, atestiguar la impunidad de la golpiza a Carmen Santiago nos llevò a una impotencia tan grave que no hemos podido recuperarnos, ni organizarnos. no sè como se llama ese efecto, pero nos sugieren tomar una terapia de contensiòn, ¿què medidas tomas contra el estado que bloquea la justicia? y ¿còmo ayudas a una persona agresiva que no acepta ayuda de las que estuvieron cerca?

في ليلة من ليالي الأسبوع الماضي حلمت أني كنت في سيارة الأجرة ذاتها التي سحقت تحت شاحنة قمح وبداخلها سيدة وابنتاها إذ توفيت الام مع إحدى الفتاتين في حين لم تصب الأخرى بتاتا وكذلك سائق التكسي .
كنت حاضرا لتغطية الحدث , ساعيا خلفه من موقع الحدث وضجيج آليات الإنقاذ إلى المشفى حيث أودعت الجثث , الأمر كان صعبا واحتجت وأنا أكتب التقرير الصحفي إلى الكثير من السجائر والقهوة .
قبل تلك الحادثة بيومين كنت في تغطية صحفية لطفل وقع في فهوة صرف صحي مكشوفة ومر خلال 15 كيلو مترا من الأنابيب وصولا إلى محطة معالجة الصرف الصحي قبل أن تنتشل جثته .
تلك مواقف حياتية أواجهها بحكم عملي الصحفي . أحيانا أحاول الخروج من الإطار الإنساني لي إلى الشخصية الصحفية التي لا تتأثر بالأحداث لكن الإنسانية تظهر في ما أخط على شاشة الحاسب .
في المساء عندما أعود إلى منزلي , أستذكر كل ما رأيت , أشعر بالألم , أتقلب كثيرا قبل النوم وأحيانا لا أنام , الصدمة قاسية .
طبعا اليوم التالي لا يعني أنك قاسيت أي ألم فإدارة التحرير تطلب منك المزيد ولا مجال للوقوف أو الراحة وإلا أصبحت مقصرا

زودنا المتخصصون النفسيون بالأمور التي من شأنها مساعدتنا على عبور الصدمات، وترشدنا في كيفية مدّ يد العون لمساعدة من يمرون بأزمات مماثلة..

تجنّب العزلة:

فالمساندة من قبل الأصدقاء والأحباء تعطي سنداً نفسياً لا يستهان به، كما أنها تحمي من الشعور بالوحدة وما يتبعه من تأثيرات سلبية، علاوة على أنها تعطي إحساساً بالأمان، الذي بدوره يخفف من وقع الصدمة.
ألجأ إلى الله لأنه يحبك:

فالله دائماً يعينك على تخطي الصعاب؛ لأنه يحبك بشكلٍ شخصي ويهتم بحياتك. تحدث معه أن يلهمك سلاماً وتعزية في القلب، تذكر أنه يجرح ويعصب يسحق ويداه تشفيان، وتأكد أنه مع كل تجربة يوجد لها مخرج وتعزية. لكن من المهم أن تصلي، فالسلام الذي يمنحه الله، يفوق العقل، وسلام الله يختلف عن السلام الذي يعطيه كل العالم؛ لأنه سلام يفوق كل عقل.. .

• DALIA KAMEL           داليا كامل