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R.Murali Krishna, M.D.

Tornado Recovery: 15 Ways to Rebuild Emotionally

Look for options

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1.

The majority of our population can skip #1 but still suffer from a higher degree of stress and helplessness. Responses can range from leaving town for a few days to building a safe room underground. “These feelings activate your body’s inner stress response system at a higher level. We become tense, hyper vigilant, our pupils dilate, and our brain is like a super antenna to signals of danger. We can take the following nine steps to regain normalcy,” said Dr. Krishna.

Your basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter must be met first. Find a place to stay, locate resources to get food and clothing, call your insurance company about replacing your car, ask volunteers about equipment needed to clear your home site, look for emotional and spiritual nurturance.

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Through friends, family neighbors, your congregation, volunteer organizations, support aid, seek out physical, emotional, and spiritual encouragement. Ask for support.

Find a place of comfort, protection, and support

2.

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Connect with people3. Look for those who have suffered similarly with you like

your neighbors. Share your feelings and thoughts with loved ones and friends. If you don’t have anyone to connect with, seek counseling. We need to share our sense of helplessness. Break out of your isolation.

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Routine brings a sense of constancy and stability to the uncertain world.

Re-establish a regular routine4.

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Sleep is healing for the body. A lack of sleep will reduce your immune system, cause your blood sugar go higher, and send eating patterns out of whack. This can result in cravings for carbohydrates, weight gain, and a reduction of energy.

Pay attention to sleep5.

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It sounds silly at this time of anxiety and crisis, but exercise is a great stress buster. It is one of the best tools we have that we can use without depending on anyone. Walk, climb stairs, or simply move in a stationery place to keep your muscles moving, circulation going, boost your immune system, neutralize stress hormones, normalize sleep, regulate your appetite, and increase your energy levels.

Exercise6.

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Your mind will respond to healing more readily if your body is receiving the proper nutrients. Eat lean protein with fresh fruits and vegetables. Limit simple carbohydrates that can trigger negative responses and cravings.

Nutrition7.

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Prayer, relaxation, yoga, and meditation all have a calming effect. One of the simplest calming techniques is deep breathing. Most of us only utilize 25% of our lungs when we breathe. Take in a deep breath through your nose that fills your lungs to the bottom, hold for one second, then release the breath through your nose slowly while experiencing the feelings and sensations associated with breath. Deep breathing brings a sense of calmness because the very simple act of even a few breaths can decrease the sympathetic nervous system’s stress response and neutralize itself. Like taking an antacid for acid, it neutralizes stress. It is a very physiological tool that human beings have.

Calm your nervous system8.

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Live moment by moment in harmony with right now. Learn from the past and plan for the future, but live now. We cannot live in past mistakes or accomplishments. We can’t predict or control the future. Limit the time you think about the future or the past and live this moment.

Live in the present9.

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Do not watch newscasts over and over. Limit the time you think about the hurt, the pain, and the changes that have taken place in your life. The brain, the mind needs a break from worry and pain in order to recharge. Look at the heart muscle, with every beat it relaxes. That is how it lasts a lifetime. It could not continue beating from birth until death if it did not relax. Our brain needs the same mini-breaks from the worry and anxiety.

Limit tornado thoughts10.

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Accept the fact we have no control over nature. Nature has given us bountiful energy and life itself and nature sometimes goes outside our comfort with earthquakes, tornados, floods, landslides, any number of things can happen, but if you look at the statistics, at our city, a very small number is affected by the loss of life. The chances are very minimal, although it is possible. We need to accept the reality that bad things can happen and prepare for that. Know where you will go to seek shelter in a tornado. Be responsible, but not hyper vigilant. A part of living is accepting we may be exposed to danger from time to time

Work toward acceptance11.

The possibility that something bad might happen should not ruin the rest of your life.

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Look for the positive12. In spite of this overwhelming trauma and fear see how beautifully the community has responded. The true divine quality of human beings has come out in full display during this entire crisis. What a marvelous demonstration of the true character of Oklahomans. Savor that. Participate in that. Become a part of the solution rather than feeling weak and frightened.

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Seek spirituality 13. Spirituality is a great resource for us. Getting in touch with our own spirit and the greater spirit. We can do this through prayer and by helping others less fortunate than us. Participating in volunteer activities, giving a helping word, a pat on the back, helping with resources, donating labor to make someone else comfortable, or just sitting and talking with them and praying with them can be a spiritual experience for ourselves. Helping others makes a big difference and brings a sense of control back to you.

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Get back into play14. Reconnect with the lighter side of life; laughter, arts, entertainment, and activities you enjoy. Slowly but surely begin to gradually incorporate those things into life that you enjoy doing.

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Grow stronger 15. See yourself strengthened by this experience rather than weakened. Seek the inner coping skills that you have inside of you and strengthen them, nurture them. Your whole painful, frightening experiences can be incorporated into your life. Rather that it dominating you it becomes a part of the spectrum of life experiences you have had, who you are, and what makes you stronger. These challenges are what makes human beings resilient and capable of healing ourselves and healing our community.

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R. Murali Krishna, MD, DLFAPA

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Univ. of OK Health Sciences Center

Co-Founder & President, James L. Hall, Jr Center for Mind, Body and Spirit

President, Oklahoma State Board of HealthFounding President, Health Alliance for the Uninsured

President & COO, INTEGRIS Mental Health

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