Document text
Rogue Valley therapists called to help others deal with disaster By JONEL ALECCIA Dennis McNamara has counseled people through floods and tornadoes, but even those natural disasters pale compared to the manmade horror unleashed this week in Washington and New York. Mental health workers see increase in anxiety If the enormity of Tuesday's terrorist attacks strained the bounds of sound minds, it forced more fragile psyches into altered states, according to Jackson County mental health workers. Calls to case managers and crisis lines were up as troubled people sought solace for problems ranging from general anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder. "The sights, the sounds, it takes them right back to terrible experiences," said Fran Curtis, outpatient program manager for the county mental health department. "Some clients came in afraid that their employment places would be bombed or that this place would be bombed, too." HELPLine, a crisis line run by Community Works of Medford, saw a small spike in calls the day after the attacks in the East, said Jeff Meierhenry, program manager. Eight calls were logged in a half-hour Wednesday morning, considerably more than normal. Between 20 and 30 percent of the nearly 650 patients at the Veterans Affairs Domiciliary in White City were having trouble coping with Tuesday's news, according to John Louks, a therapist. "There's an increasing of old memories, disturbance of sleep, irritability, feelings of anxiety, feelings of wanting to help people but feeling they can't," Louks said. "For people with combat trauma experience, they've been in experiences where they couldn't do anything and this brings that up." Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect anyone who lives with extended threat, including victims of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual abuse. Those people may be especially vulnerable to the free-floating anxiety created by a national emergency of such proportions, experts said. Coping can be as simple as turning off the television or talking to a friend, said Louks. "I've been recommending that they not stay glued to the television," he said. "Frankly, the news coverage retraumatizes people." Maintaining a daily routine, exercising regularly, eating well and seeking spiritual solace at a church or other site are also helpful, he noted. People with more dire needs should contact mental health professionals. For information, call Jackson County Mental Health at 774-8201 or HELPLine at 779-HELP or 1-808-609-HELP. Still, the Medford therapist will have no qualms when he boards a plane next week to provide mental health services on behalf of the American Red Cross to workers and victims of Tuesday's terrorism. "Do I want to go there and see this mayhem and be exposed to the worst humanity has to offer? No, I don't," said McNamara, 55, a certified disaster therapist. "Do I want to do something to help? Yes. It's about healing now." Red Cross officials notified McNamara Tuesday night that his services likely would be needed; on Wednesday, the Jackson County Jail counselor asked for paid time to go. Hank Collins, county health director, agreed to foot the $2,000 bill. "It's a gesture," Collins said. "It's a little thing Jackson County can do to help our neighbors in New York." McNamara, who has assisted with a flood in North Dakota and a tornado in Minnesota, is one of at least two local disaster therapists certified by the local chapter of the Red Cross. Perry Prince, of Ashland, said Wednesday he also expects to be called to the scene. The men said their duties will include offering aid to Red Cross workers, who must bear the physical and psychological burden of aiding others. "Very often, what people will be experiencing will be, 'Why am I doing this? What is my body doing this?' They're having natural symptoms to an unnatural situation," Prince said. The most difficult work, however, is offering a sense of normalcy to those traumatized by events. "Somehow, you have to bring them back to the totality of their life," McNamara said. "This is not their whole life. This is one incident in their life." Those people who've lost friends or family will need to grieve, he says. Those who've lost something less tangible - a sense of safety in the world, perhaps - will need reassurance. "I've got hand-outs and stuff," he said. "But it's just holding their hand." Sometimes, it's the smallest gestures that have the most impact, said McNamara, who recalls assisting a family who'd lost their home in a tornado. The father, mother and several small children were staying in a Red Cross shelter. The mother had been injured, everything she owned was gone. And, it was her birthday. "So I got a donut and I got this candle," he said, growing teary at the memory. "It's not the training. It's one person caring for another." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.