North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services
After a disaster it is common to feel:
- Shock
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Numbness
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Denial
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Anger
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Sadness
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Tiredness
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Sleeplessness
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Irritability
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Listlessness
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And other effects
Adults often begin to restore emotional well-being by paying attention to their feelings & reaching out to others.
Children need to be given the chance to talk about what happened & their feelings about it.
Taking positive action in some way can also help.
Giving blood, attending memorial services, spending time in quiet reflection are examples of activities that can help deal with feelings as well as take care of actual needs in a disaster.
Remember:
Stress symptoms are normal reactions to tragic situations
Stress symptoms will likely diminish over a brief period of time.
Expect a normal recovery.
Disaster Preparedness
As part of public services in our state, the Division and the local programs that make up the mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services system provide help during and after disasters. Whether it is providing shelter in our state facilities, seeing that consumers get needed medications or deploying people in stricken communities to reach out to help with people's emotional needs, staff and programs are there.
In the past, this help usually centered around natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and other damaging storms. Now the system is also ready to assist with the effects of coping with pandemic influenza or man-made disasters such as terrorism and bioterrorism. These situations create different kinds of problems for people. People may experience stress over long periods of time just from the threat of something happening.
The materials and information provided here are intended to help with education and personal preparedness and to deal with the emotional effects of all kinds of disasters. If you need emotional support call the North Carolina CARE-LINE toll free at 1.800.662.7030 English/Spanish or 877.452.2514 (TTY). NCcareLINK is your link to local and statewide information about health and human service programs offered across North Carolina.
Division’s Disaster Preparedness and Response
By using the buttons below, you can navigate to various fact sheets/web sites that may help you better prepare for and understand behavioral health reactions to disasters.
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Last Updated: September 17, 2009
