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How to cope with stress after the B.C. wildfires

One expert says stress will vary from person to person, but there are ways of dealing with it
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When Dr. Genevi猫ve Belleville hears about what people in British Columbia have experienced during the wildfire season, she says it is very similar to what was witnessed in Fort McMurray after last year91裸聊视频檚 wildfire there.

91裸聊视频淓verybody has been evacuated, or has been touched by the problem,91裸聊视频 says Belleville, a professor of psychology at Laval University in Quebec City. 91裸聊视频淓verybody knows someone who experienced serious loss. There can be some 91裸聊视频榮urvivor91裸聊视频 guilt about letting yourself feel whatever you have been experiencing, because you are comparing yourself to somebody who has had it worse than you.

91裸聊视频淭his is a common reaction, I think, when an entire community has been subjected to a disaster or catastrophe.91裸聊视频

The worst loss of homes happened in Boston Flats near Cache Creek, where the Elephant Hill wildfire all but one of 60 units in a mobile home park last month.

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Belleville says there are two kinds of stressors for evacuees.

91裸聊视频淭he experience of fear during the evacuation is really important. If you feel you are going to lose everything, or that you are going to lose somebody you are really close to, this can make a big impression on your brain, and cause some reminiscences afterward that are going to be difficult to deal with.91裸聊视频

The other kind of stress factor is the day-to-day adaption to the disaster.

91裸聊视频淢aybe they didn91裸聊视频檛 lose their home, but maybe they have cleaning to do, or they have some replacements to make. They have to deal with the insurance companies, or maybe some of them changed their work schedules or lost their jobs,91裸聊视频 Belleville says.

Those who lost their homes will be living with extensive trauma, she adds.

91裸聊视频淵ou not only lose the things you need to function. You lose memories, and things that you are emotionally attached to. That91裸聊视频檚 a lot to take in, and obviously a very impactful event.91裸聊视频

She says it91裸聊视频檚 important for these people to get both tangible support, such as a place to stay while their home is being rebuilt, and emotional support, such as having others to talk to.

And she cautions about others being too optimistic.

91裸聊视频淲ith good intentions, we might want to say to somebody, 91裸聊视频楨verything is not so bad, everything is going to be alright, you91裸聊视频檙e alive, that91裸聊视频檚 what counts.91裸聊视频 But sometimes these good intentions are a bit dismissive of what the person is trying to express, whether it91裸聊视频檚 sadness or frustration.91裸聊视频

She says there are other things those affected by the fires can do to de-stress, such as exercises to reduce anxiety and remembering to have fun with friends and family.

91裸聊视频淪ome people go through what we call post-traumatic growth. The painful experience has opened their eyes on what their true value is, and what they want to focus their life on,91裸聊视频 she says.

91裸聊视频淥f course, these events are terrible, and we91裸聊视频檙e not saying they91裸聊视频檙e good things to experience, but there is hope that most people, with time and with care, are going to get better. Most of them are going to be resilient, and some of them may even find that this event maybe helped them change their life for the better.91裸聊视频



Barbara Roden

About the Author: Barbara Roden

I joined Black Press in 2012 working the Circulation desk of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal and edited the paper during the summers until February 2016.
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