Shannon Seymour Programme Coordinator at The Wellness Centre

By Tina Trumbach
tina@caymannetnews.com

As the rebuilding continues on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in the aftermath of Hurricane Paloma, recovery of another nature also needs to be addressed – how to regain emotional well-being, especially among the children who experienced the storm.

Shannon Seymour, Programme Coordinator at The Wellness Centre, outlined the situation children can face:

“Their homes are damaged or destroyed, their schools are closed, their friends are scattered, and their island looks so confusingly different.

“Many children have been taken off island to live temporarily with family or friends, many have been living in shelters or with friends, and still others have been at home, witnessing the enormous clean-up efforts. “

Mrs Seymour said people need to be conscious of the effect the upheaval may be having on youngsters.

“Our children are like sponges, they take in everything, and recently there has been a great deal to absorb. They watched us prepare with apprehension, they witnessed our fear and felt their own during the storm, and they have watched our emotional reactions to the aftermath,” she said.

In addition, children are often more affected than they may reveal to parents, she explained.

“Our children need to have their feelings validated. It is important to remember that even if a child is not talking about the hurricane it does not mean that all is forgotten, or that they have not been affected,” Mrs Seymour said.

“Children and teens likely won’t tell you how they have been affected; rather they are more likely to express their feelings through their actions and behaviours. It is important to be attentive and take special care to spend time with your child, despite the chaos and busy activity that is all around,” she said.

Project Recovery, a division of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health set up after Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast in 2005, gives a breakdown of stress warning signs in children by age.

Young children from ages one to six years old may display helplessness and a lack of usual responsiveness; have difficulty taking about the event; have nightmares or sleep disturbances; have separation fears and start clinging to caregivers; start bedwetting or have a loss of motor and speech skills; have anxieties about death; make frequent complaints of stomach aches, headaches or other pains; or display a sudden immobility of the body or ‘freezing’.

School-aged children from six to 11 years old may have feelings of responsibility and guilt; display repetitious traumatic play and retelling; have nightmares and sleep disturbances; be preoccupied with danger and safety; show changes in behaviour; have aches and pains with no obvious physical cause; show signs of withdrawal; have a fear of being left alone; show listlessness and disinterest in everyday activities; and show a lack of understanding of the hurricane.

Pre-adolescents and adolescent from age 12 to 18 years old may show rebellion at home or school; make abrupt shifts in relationships; exhibit depression and social withdrawal; show a decline in school performance; exhibit social withdrawal or excessive socialising; display revenge seeking behaviours; and have sleep and eating disturbances.

Mrs Seymour said, “Children’s stress response to their hurricane experience will vary, and may be influenced by their perceived threat to life during the storm, the personal loss experienced, as well as the level of disruption to their daily lives in the initial weeks after the storm.”

The trauma of a hurricane can linger with some children showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) months after the storm, according to a study by University of Miami and Florida International University after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. As part of the study, 442 children were evaluated at three, seven, and 10 months following the disaster.

Three months after the hurricane, 56 percent of children were experiencing moderate symptoms of PTSD. Seven months post-hurricane, 41 percent of the children were experiencing symptoms. At 10 months after the hurricane, 34 percent of the children were still experiencing moderate symptoms.
But there are ways to help children cope through the long aftermath of a major hurricane.

Mrs Seymour said, “Children need our reassurance that they are safe now. It is also important to let them know that it is healthy to express emotions. Don’t punish or criticize them when they get sad, or fearful or even angry. During this time children will likely be extra sensitive and need us to pay close attention to them. Don’t wait for a child to talk to you about how they are feeling, create opportunities to talk about feelings as a family, giving them an example of how to express the feelings they are experiencing.”

Despite parents’ best efforts, there are situations where symptoms can continue and require professional help.

According to the American Psychological Association, signs that warrant professional help include: continual and aggressive emotional outbursts, serious problems at school, preoccupation with the traumatic event, continued and extreme withdrawal, and other signs of intense anxiety or emotional difficulties.

The US-based National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) says children’s functioning is influenced by how parents cope. To help children’s recovery, parents should be role models so children can learn how to handle stressful situations.

The NCTSN advises parents to “keep things hopeful”. The website says: “Even in the most difficult situation, it is important to remain optimistic about the future. Your positive outlook will help your children be able to see good things in the world around them. This will help get them through even the most challenging times.”

Mrs Seymour said, “This experience has the potential to create in all of us, including our children, the ability to be more empathic, sensitive, aware and caring. There are enormous lessons for our children to learn about sharing, community strength and gratitude.”

To illustrate, she recounted the reaction of children in her neighbourhood after Hurricane Ivan’s destruction of Grand Cayman in 2004.

“I am reminded of the initial hours after the storm when the children of my street emerged from their homes and returned from their shelters. They gathered in the middle of the shingle-ridden street sharing stories of where they had been, what had happened to their homes, and what toys had been lost, or more importantly which had been spared,” she said.

“They worked tirelessly together loading debris into wheelbarrows, couriering tools back and forth between parents, sharing snacks and water and, of course, amongst it all they laughed. Despite the devastation and sadness which encircled them as they took turns riding the lone surviving bicycle, they laughed.”


Tips to help children cope with stress

Shannon Seymour, Programme Coordinator at The Wellness Centre, offers the following tips on what parents can do to help their children cope with the emotional after-effects of living through a hurricane:

• Don’t leave your child alone in a new place
  
• Talk to your child about the hurricane and your experience
  
• Encourage your child to talk about what it was like for them
  
• Let them spend time with friends, kids will often find it easier to talk to other kids about their hurricane experiences
  
• Say it is okay to be afraid
  
• Tell your child the plans for each day
  
• Try to create a routine in your child’s life as best you can
  
• Be aware of what your child may be hearing about the hurricane from other sources
  
• Hold and hug your children often
  
• Listen to them, we are all very busy, but they need our attention
  
• Let your child know that you were afraid too
  
• Reassure your child they are in a safe place
  
• As long as it can be done safely, let your child help clean-up
  
• Talk to children about the rebuilding process
  
• Explain, talk and listen; over and over again.