Article from Center for Disease and Control Prevention
After experiencing an event that is especially frightening—including personal or environmental disasters, or being threatened with an assault—people sometimes have a strong and lingering reaction to stress. Getting the right care and support can put problems in perspective and help stressful feelings and symptoms subside.
Everyone - adults, teens, and even children - experiences stress at times. Stress can be beneficial by helping people develop the skills they need to cope with and adapt to new and potentially threatening situations throughout life. However, the beneficial aspects of stress diminish when it is severe enough to overwhelm a person's ability to cope effectively.
Sometimes after experiencing a traumatic event that is especially frightening—including personal or environmental disasters, or being threatened with an assault—people have a strong and lingering reaction to stress. Strong emotions, jitters, and sadness or depression may all be part of this normal and temporary reaction to the stress of an overwhelming event. But when the symptoms of stress are intense or last too long, it can cause people to feel overwhelmed and reduce their ability to cope.
Common reactions to a stressful event can include:
Disbelief and shock
Tension and irritability
Fear and anxiety about the future
Difficulty making decisions
Feeling numb
Losing interest in usual activities
Loss of appetite
Nightmares and reoccurring thoughts about the event
Anger
Increased use of alcohol and drugs
Sadness and depression
Feeling powerless
Crying
Sleep difficulties
Headaches, back pains, and stomach problems
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling emotional and nervous or having trouble sleeping and eating can all be normal reactions to stress. Getting the right care and support can put problems in perspective and help stressful feelings and symptoms subside in a few days or weeks.
Here are some tips for getting the right care and support in difficult times.
Avoid drugs and alcohol. Drugs and alcohol may seem to help with the stress temporarily; in the long run they create additional problems that compound the stress you are already feeling.
Find support. Ask for help from a parent, friend, counselor, doctor, or pastor. Talk with them about the stress you feel and problems you face.
Take care of yourself.
Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet
Exercise on a regular basis
Get plenty of sleep
Give yourself a break if you feel stressed out
Sidebar: Stress is a condition that is often characterized by symptoms of physical or emotional tension. It is a reaction to a situation where a person feels threatened or anxious. Stress can be positive (e.g., preparing for a wedding) or negative (e.g., dealing with a natural disaster).
Tips for Coping With Stress
Mass tragedies, including school shootings, workplace violence, and community violence affect different people in different ways. People exposed to these events can experience physical reactions, such as increased heart rate and difficulty breathing, as well as emotional reactions, such as frightening thoughts and painful feelings. Common responses can include:
Feeling a sense of loss, sadness, frustration, helplessness, or emotional numbness
Having nightmares or difficulty falling or staying asleep
Avoiding things that remind you of the event
Having no desire for food or a loss of appetite
Having difficulty concentrating
Feeling nervous or on edge
Feeling irritable or crying easily
If you or someone you know experiences any of these feelings after a traumatic event, get support from your family, friends co-workers, and others who offer support. Talk with others about your feelings and take care of yourself by sticking to your normal routine. Avoid using alcohol and drugs. Staying active, helping other people, or volunteering in your community can also help you feel better.
Keep in mind that returning to the way you felt before the event may take some time. Helping and healing can begin at the time of the event but may need to continue over a period of time. If problems continue or you have trouble managing your feelings, talk to a psychologist, social worker, or professional counselor.
Tips for Parents
It's natural for children to worry, especially when scary or stressful events happen in their lives. Talking with children about these stressful events when they happen, and monitoring what children watch or hear about the events, can help put frightening information into a more balanced context. The CDC offers parents these suggestions to help children through their questions:
Reach out and talk. Create opportunities to have your children talk, but do not force them. Tell your children you are there to listen to their thoughts and feelings. After a traumatic event, it is important for children to feel like they can share their feelings and to know that their fears and worries are understandable.
Express yourself. Your children may be feeling different emotions at different times. Sadness. Anger. Fear. Confusion. These feelings are normal reactions to stressful events. Encourage your children to appropriately express how he or she feels. Acknowledge that you may have these feelings too, and model good coping for your children.
Watch and listen. Be alert for any change in behavior. Are children sleeping more or less? Are they withdrawing from friends or family? Are they behaving in any way out of the ordinary? Any changes in behavior, even small changes, may be a red flag that the child is having trouble coming to terms with the event.
Reassure. Stressful events can challenge a child's sense of physical and emotional safety and security. Take opportunities to reassure your child about his or her safety and well-being and discuss ways that you, the school, and the community are taking steps to keep them safe.
Share information with other parents. Get to know your children's friends and their parents. Make an on-going effort to check in and talk to other parents about any issues or stress. You don't have to deal with problems alone-it is often helpful for parents, schools, and health professionals to work together in providing support to and in ensuring the well-being of children in stressful times.
Stay Connected. After a stressful event, it is easy to pull away from those close to you. Make sure that you are setting aside time to spend time with those who are important to you. Consider planning fun activities with your child to facilitate staying connected.
Keep it going. Ask your children how they feel about the event in a week, then in a month and so on. Each child has his or her own way of coping under stressful situations. The best thing you can do as a parent is to listen to your children and allow them to express their concerns and fears.
Tips for Kids and Teens
After a traumatic or violent event, it is normal to feel anxious about your safety and security. Even if you were not directly involved, you may worry about whether this type of event may someday affect you. How can you deal with these fears? Start by looking at the tips below for some ideas.
Talk to an adult you can trust. This might be your parent, another relative, a friend, neighbor, teacher, coach, school nurse, counselor, family doctor, or member of your church or temple. If you've seen or experienced violence of any kind, it is helpful to talk with others about your feelings. If you are not sure where to turn, call your local crisis intervention center or a national hotline.
Get involved. Go for a walk, volunteer with a community group, play sports, write a play or poem, play a musical instrument, or join an after-school program. Trying any of these can be a positive way to handle your feelings.
Help make your school or community safer. Join an existing group that is promoting non-violence in your school or community, or launch your own effort.
Stay in touch with others. If possible, stay in touch with trusted family, friends, and neighbors to talk things out and help deal with any stress or worry.
Take care of yourself. Losing sleep, not eating, and worrying too much can make you sick. As much as possible, try to get enough sleep, eat right, exercise, and keep a normal routine. It may be hard to do, but it can keep you healthy and better able to handle a tough time.
Tips for School Personnel
Kids and teens who experience a stressful event, or see it on television, may react with shock, sadness, anger, fear, and confusion. They may be reluctant to be alone or fearful of leaving secure areas such as the house or classroom. School personnel can help their students restore their sense of safety by talking with the children about their fears. Other tips for school personnel include:
Reach out and talk. Create opportunities to have children talk, but do not force them. Try asking questions like, what do you think about these events, or how do you think these things happen? After a traumatic event, it is important for children to feel like they can share their feelings and to know that their fears and anxieties are understandable.
Watch and listen. Be alert for any change in behavior. Are students talking more or less? Withdrawing from friends? Acting out? Are they behaving in any way out of the ordinary? This may show that they are having trouble coming to terms with this event. Recognizing even small changes in behavior can give you an early warning that something is troubling them.
Maintain normal routines. Keep a regular classroom and school schedule. This can be reassuring and promote a sense of stability and safety. Encourage students to keep up with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities but don't push them if they seem overwhelmed.
Express yourself. Your students may be feeling different emotions at different times. Sadness. Anger. Fear. Confusion. These feelings are normal reactions to a tragedy. Do not be afraid to allow your student to appropriately express how they feel and share your feelings with them so they know that different emotions are normal. Answer their questions honestly and don’t avoid difficult topics.
Take care of yourself. You cannot take care of your students until you take care of yourself first.
Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet
Exercise on a regular basis
Get plenty of sleep
Give yourself a break if you feel stressed out
Article from Center for Disease and Control Prevention