Emphasizing that disasters have personal and mass effects and that mental health is very important in the normalization process in such big situations, Mental and Neurological Diseases Specialist Dr. Ecem Çelik said, “The way we are affected by traumatic events depends on many factors such as our personality traits, the way we cope with difficulties, our psychological flexibility, whether we have been exposed to a traumatic event before. For this reason, we will all have our own ‘new normal’. Some of us will go through this process by denying what happened, some of us clinging to their jobs, some of us going through radical changes such as cities, countries and jobs, and some of us will take steps regarding the measures that can be taken and continue their routine lives.”
Stating that disaster is defined as events that cause physical, economic and social losses for people, stop or disrupt people’s normal life and actions, and where opportunities are insufficient, Psychiatry Specialist Dr. Ecem Çelik said, “For an event to qualify as a disaster, it must be large enough to affect people or the environment in which people live effectively. From this point of view, disaster is the result of an event rather than an event. Disasters cause massive loss of life and property. Earthquakes are events that occur suddenly in a certain geography, cause both individual and collective stress and cause significant destruction, loss or injury. Even if they are not directly exposed to such an experience, it is accepted that they are faced with a traumatic event if their relatives and loved ones are exposed or if they witness the negative experiences of others. Witnessing can be just as exhausting as living it directly,” he said.
RETURNING TO DAILY LIFE AFTER TRAUMA
Emphasizing that recovery or recovery after traumas, which have such great social and individual effects, does not mean forgetting what happened, but we need to feel safe again after such an event or to experience that some things are under our control in life as much as possible. Dr. Ecem Çelik said, “We define trauma as an unexpected situation that disrupts our mental and physical integrity. That’s why I think we need to feel safe and experience that we can control some things before we can go back to normal. The way we are affected by traumatic events depends on many factors such as our personality traits, the way we deal with difficulties, our psychological flexibility, whether we have been exposed to a traumatic event before. For this reason, we will all have our own “new normal”. Some of us will go through this process by denying what happened, some of us clinging to their jobs, some of us going through radical changes such as cities, countries and jobs, and some of us will take steps regarding the measures that can be taken and continue their routine lives. Just as our priority is to move the victim to a safe area after an accident, the primary psychological first aid we need to do to ourselves is to re-create our safe living space. With the earthquake, ‘safe living space’, which is one of our most basic needs, has been taken from us. “We can’t expect the mind to go into a normalization process without feeling safe, it’s only when we deny the process,” he said.
THE FIRST STEP OF NORMALIZATION ADAPTATION
Stating that our return to normal will be step by step and spread over time, Dr. Ecem Çelik said, “Our old life will not return immediately. Even our social life, our home and work life, our habits may have to change. Changes to be made will gradually settle in our lives, so the adaptation problem we will experience will force us at the beginning of this process, but we will overcome this problem in time. Of course, we may have problems in the steps of adapting in this process. Because we may experience panic and anxiety caused by newly experienced situations and events, which are not known about what to do. In this emotional state, the person may be confused about what to do, panic and overlook alternative ways to solve problems. Therefore, the adaptation problem is called a ‘problem’, the person becomes dysfunctional in that mood.
ANXIETY IS ACTUALLY A NECESSARY EMOTION
Stating that anxiety is a necessary emotion for us to continue with our lives, Ecem Çelik said, “Thanks to anxiety, we recognize the danger and take precautions. Yes, we should be worried after the earthquakes we witnessed, we should review the buildings we live in, we should talk about what we can do in the event of a possible earthquake, we should receive training. However, in order to take constructive steps, we need as healthy a mind as possible. The way to attain a healthy mind is to open up space for ourselves without ignoring the emotions we feel, along with our sadness, anger, and despair. After we are sure of the safety of the buildings we live in, get informed about what we can do in case of an earthquake, and have our safe space as much as possible, we can start to open up space for ourselves and return to the activities that we enjoy in life. Walking in the open air, listening to music, engaging in cultural activities, chatting with our loved ones, talking to our loved ones, expressing our feelings in verbal and written language, and taking steps regarding our postponed requests can help us in this process.
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