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When
Crazy in Normal-September 11th, 2001
Dr. Joni Johnston
(written for HR.com)
(traumatized by events)
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I almost ran
over a lady at a crosswalk. I forgot a doctor’s appointment
and yelled at my six year old for no reason. And during a weight
class at my gym, I started crying. When I was a clinician in private
practice, I would have been concerned about a serious depression
if a therapy client had reported these events to me during a session.
Yesterday, they were normal.
All of us were traumatized by yesterday’s events. For companies
who lost employees, or for employees who lost friends or loved ones,
the emotional aftermath is just beginning. Human resource professionals
may find themselves overwhelmed by their own grief as they struggle
to help their managers and employees cope with their sadness, anger
and disbelief. Get help.
Nothing can take the pain away, but there are steps you can take
now that will help mitigate the emotional impact of yesterday’s
trauma and help accelerate the recovery of those who are most impacted.
Yesterday’s terrorism was an experience outside the realm of
normal human experience, and as such, is likely to cause extreme
stress reactions in normal, healthy people. Nightmares, poor concentration,
tearfulness, fearfulness, and anger are normal, temporary reactions
to an abnormal event. The sooner your employees have a chance to
talk about what happened, understand the normal reactions to extreme
stress, and identify ways to help them cope, the sooner the healing
will begin.
Call your employee assistance program or local psychological association.
Offer places for employees to talk about what happened – as
a group and individually. Have brown bag presentations on critical
stress and how to cope with it. Make sure you have plenty of referral
sources handy for those who need individual attention. Counsel your
managers on stress reactions and encourage them to contact you if
an employee seems to be in trouble. And, most importantly, take
care of yourself.
Thirteen
Ways To Get Through The Rest of the Week
1. Within the first 24-48 hrs, periods of strenuous physical exercise,
alternated with relaxation, can help alleviate some of the physical
reactions
2. Structure
your time--keep busy.
3. Reach out
and talk to people.
4. Be aware
of the potential problem of numbing the pain with overuse of drugs
or alcohol
5. Maintain
as normal a schedule as possible
6. Spend time with others. Help your co-workers as much as possible
by sharing your feelings and checking out how they are doing
7. Give yourself permission to feel rotten and share your feelings
with others
8. Keep a journal, write your way through those sleepless hours
9. Do things that make you feel good
10. Realize that you are under stress. Remember that unusual symptoms
are normal – don’t try to fight them and remind yourself
that they will lessen over time.
11. Don't make any big life changes
12. Do make
as many daily decisions as possible. Doing this will give you a
feeling of control over your life. i.e. if someone asks you what
you want to eat--answer them even if you are not sure
13. Get plenty
of rest and eat well-balanced meals (even if you don’t feel
like it).
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