Thanks in part to the “fast food” mentality of a society
addicted to 24/7 news and the Next Breaking Thing, most have forgotten this
tragedy and moved on with life.
But when a crisis of this magnitude strikes you, two weeks is barely enough time to
begin the healing process.
Three separate incidents that both Kathi and Amy told me
about recently caused me to seek out a friend and ask her for an article on
trauma. Here’s what happened:
Amy:
Friday after the fire, Amy and Lee stepped away from the
apartment complex for a quick bite to eat when a fire truck raced past their
location. The minute she heard the sirens, Amy’s heart started to pound and she
started to shake. Trauma.
Kathi:
This past
Sunday night, around 11 PM, a fire truck comes racing into the apartment
complex, lights flashing and siren screaming. It stops at the building Amy now
lives in. It was responding to a medical emergency, not a fire.
Still.
In Kathi's words, "my heart's about to jump out of my chest."
All thoughts of sleep - banished. Trauma.
Amy & Kathi:
2 AM, Wednesday morning.
Fire trucks yet again race into the complex. This time they stop at
Kathi's new apartment building. And this time, it is a fire. Kathi
grabs CJ and races to Amy's. Kathi tells reporters, "the memory of seeing the
building go up in flames - it's still too raw." Neither one can sleep that
night, nerves on edge. Trauma.
Who wouldn’t respond that way, given the
circumstances?
The friend I reached out to is Marla Swoboda, then VP of
Development for Wayside Waifs. Marla recently invited her sister Jana, a
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, to fly in to KC to speak with us about
Compassion Fatigue. During her very informative talk, she briefly touched on how
trauma can impact our lives.
I asked Marla if Jana had any articles on the topic and
Jana graciously forwarded this link to two great articles on her blog:
one
on anxiety,
one on
PTSD. I'm not suggesting Amy or Kathi have PTSD -- but the general concepts
could apply to this situation.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the first article:
"The brain is great at learning what scares it.
Danger memories can get hard-wired to provide a quick spill of chemicals that
ideally would serve us well-- to get us the hell out of dodge, or help us fight
off our attacker.
Brain is not particularly selective in what gets filed,
which can result in some strange associations we may not even know exist. For
example, if you're in a car wreck, Brain may file away not only screeching tires
and breaking glass. You might find yourself also getting panicky feelings (the
emotional interpretation of all those chemicals coming to fore) when you pass
white Hondas, or that particular intersection. That one's easy to connect, but
while you might not have noticed what was on the radio, Brain could have, and
you may not understand why your heart races every time that Lady Gaga song
plays."
The articles are excellently written and informative.
Perhaps they will provide insight, or just a bit of sensitivity, towards two
friends who are continuing to work through an especially difficult
situation.
If you’re interested, I’d encourage you to click over and
read the articles. Who knows? You may have reason to put this information to
good use some day in the future.
Can Sebastian and CJ suffer from PTSD? We’ll take a look at
that on Sunday!
To read the full blog from March 9, 2012 click here:
Ryker'z Boyz. Thanks Ryker'z Boyz for letting me steal... er borrow! (Guess I should have asked huh?)
