Coping with the Stress of Relocation After a Disaster (Part 1): Introduction
What is stress?
Knowing some basic facts about emotional stress can help you understand its effects:
- Stress is both a physical and an emotional response that results from an increase in tension or worry about something that is dangerous, unknown, or disturbing.
- Stress affects people's minds, emotions, and bodies. It can make it harder to think and concentrate. It can make it hard to control one's temper or make one cry more easily than usual. It can upset a person's digestion and make it hard to sleep, even when tired. Sometimes stress will make the heart beat faster, cause stomach problems, or cause you to feel short of breath.
- Some of the responses to stress depend on the person's age. The young and the elderly show stress in different ways, and specific techniques may be needed to relieve stress for each of these age groups.
Relocation and Stress
Unplanned evacuations during a disaster can cause great stress on a community and on the individuals in that community. Some of the stressful factors related to sudden evacuations are the following:
- Disruptions of daily life routines
- Separation from family, friends, and coworkers
- Worries about the condition of homes and the community
- Concerns about pets
- Loss of family pictures and special items
- Difficulties getting around in a new location
The stress of evacuation can lead to feelings of isolation in the new location and of being neglected by society and government. Evacuees also may feel there was not adequate time to prepare for the evacuation.
First Steps of Recovery
Recovering from a disaster occurs in phases over days, weeks, and months. Soon after being uprooted by a disaster, you can start the recovery process. During this time, there are three general steps you can take to improve the mental and emotional strength of your family. The following steps will help you to begin to retake control over your life.
Step 1: Rebuild physical strength and health.
Once you and your loved ones are in a safe and secure place (e.g. a shelter, a new apartment, or a place with relatives or friends), make sure to tend to everyone's immediate medical needs if there are any. Be sure everyone has enough to eat and drink to regain their physical strength. Make sure everyone gets some restful sleep in as private a space as possible. Rebuilding physical strength is a good first step to calm shattered emotions.
Step 2: Restore daily activities.
Restoring daily routines helps build a sense of being home mentally and emotionally, even in the absence of a physical home. Simple routines that your family normally does together, such as family walks, watching television, and reading bedtime stories, help pull the pieces of daily life back together even in a new place. Restoring daily activities rebuilds the normal sense of morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Even though you are away from home and in a strange place, try to resume the daily routines as much as possible.
Step 3: Provide comfort.
Family members are better able to deal with the stress of relocation when they are comfortable and informed. Comfort can be increased by
- Providing your family with information about other family, friends, and news of home
- Expressing affection for family members in the ways your family normally shows affection
- Discussing, when ready, the emotions associated with the disaster and relocation, such as feelings of loss; missing home; and worries about family members, friends, and pets
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). (Reviewed 2024 [Ed.]). Stress overview & Relocation and stress (pp. 1–2). Relocation stress: Helping families deal with the stress of relocation after a disaster (B. Schuette, Ed.). Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov