Life's storms can affect our emotional and mental health.
Coping after life's storms
Hurricane Irma closed the LCS main office for a week, leaving us without electricity like many of our neighbors. Just as we all were beginning to recover from the impacts and images of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, we awoke to the violence in Las Vegas, another event that challenged our sense of security.
Dr. Rick Armstrong offers support for understanding and coping with life's storms.
The Personal Aftermath of Disasters
Rev. Dr. Rick Armstrong, D. Min., LMFT and Megan Miessler, DCE, LCSW appeared on KFUO radio, AM 850 to share how disasters affect a person's mental and emotional health, and what a person or family can do to work through those issues. To listen...
Violence, disaster and our loss of imagined security are often an assault on our world assumptions. We may want to believe that the world is safe and benevolent (bad things will not happen to me), that the world is meaningful (predictable, fair and controllable) and that we are good and capable people (bad things don't happen to good people).
Healing and growth occur in epicyles (some days up and some days not).
People recover in ways characteristic of their age (children respond differently than adults do).
Children and adults process loss through talk and actions.
Remember
Grief is like a train - it runs on it's own schedule. There are no one minute mourners.
We can be resilient. No matter what happens, we will be ok. We might have to adjust our definition of "ok" but we will be ok. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8
Family and church are the first resources for care.
