Disasters, Crises and Traumas: Definitions and Early-Childhood Reactions

Outline

1. Definition of disasters, crisis and trauma

2. Effects of Disaster and Traumatic Events on Human Psychology

   1. Models

   2. PTSD

3. Children and Trauma

4. Traumatic Reactions by Developmental Periods

   1. Reactions of preschool children

   2. Reactions of school-age children

5. Helping Children After a Traumatic Event: Providing Support According to Developmental Periods

   1. Helping preschool children

   2. Helping school-age children

6. Conclusion

Learning Goals

Participants who complete this module are expected to acquire the following learning outcomes:

• Define what a disaster is

• Being able to state the difference between disaster and crisis

• Define what a crisis is

• Ability to describe the distinguishing features of crisis situations

• Ability to describe what traumatic reactions are

• Emotional, cognitive, physical/somatic and

• be able to rank behavioral/social responses

• How are the reactions of the individuals exposed to the disaster according to the time elapsed after the disaster?

• being able to differentiate and define groups

• List the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder

• To be able to list the stages of anxiety of preschool children

• To be able to rank children's reactions according to pre-school age ranges.

• To be able to describe the physiological, psychological, behavioral and cognitive responses of preschool children

• Being able to indicate the points where the reactions of school-age children differ from the reactions of pre-school children.

• To be able to describe the physiological, psychological, behavioral and cognitive reactions of school-age children.

Who for?

• Families

• Teachers

• School Counselors

• Administrators

• School stuff

Disasters, crises and traumas are life events that leave unforgettable traces in human life and create irreversible changes. Disaster and crisis, by their nature, are subjects that are emphasized and studied by many other disciplines. As a matter of fact, different disciplines (engineering, economics, communication, sociology, psychology, etc.) make different emphases when describing disaster and crisis situations and these emphases differentiate the concepts they use and the definitions they assign to these concepts. In the context of mental health, although the concepts of disaster, trauma and crisis seem to be intertwined, they actually have some differences between them.

Crisis is used for situations that have potentially negative consequences and affect individual or relatively small groups (family, company, school, etc.). The term crisis is also used to describe situations that are likely to turn into disasters or emergencies. In this sense, crisis management defines the work done in an emergency or after a disaster. The distinguishing features of crisis situations can be listed as the emergence of a certain crisis, experiencing a subjective stress situation, the ineffectiveness of the always used coping methods, and experiencing emotional and behavioral problems. Crises differ according to the situations in which they are experienced. The main types of crises can be classified as follows: Developmental crises (eg Erikson, transitions between developmental stages); Crises that will require an adjustment process: starting school, transferring to another school, birth of a new sibling, etc.; Situational crises (caused by a particular problem); Existential crises (aimlessness, inability to make sense of life, etc.); Traumatic stress (emotional state based on a traumatic event) can be counted.

Disasters, on the other hand, are natural or human-made events that occur suddenly in a certain geography, create both individual and collective stress, cause significant losses, and disrupt the life of the society. In addition to natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, chemical and nuclear accidents, major fires, terrorist incidents, wars, and major aircraft/traffic accidents can be given as examples of human-made and technological disasters. Disasters can happen as a result of events that can be named in a wide range from natural events to traffic accidents. From this point of view, it may not be possible to prevent disaster-causing events, such as an earthquake, but it is possible to reduce or prevent the destructive effects of the disaster that is the result of an earthquake. We see that different criteria are proposed to define disaster situations. For example, CRED (The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters) states that for a situation to be considered a disaster, one of the following criteria must be met: 1) 10 or more people die, 2) 100 people are directly affected by the situation, 3) international assistance is needed, 4) preparation of the emergency national action plan.

As such, while disaster is large-scale and affects a community, crisis refers to situations that mostly concern individuals. While disasters may cause a crisis situation, a crisis may not always result in a disaster. It is possible to see similar expressions in the definition of disaster in the definitions made for crisis. Crises can occur suddenly, unexpectedly, and it is also mentioned that an unmanageable event is perceived as a growing threat. However, the point to keep in mind when examining the definition of crisis is that the concept of crisis refers not to the situation or the experience itself, but to people's subjective reaction to a situation they perceive as a threat. This situation or life experience can be a disaster that occurs as a result of natural events such as an earthquake, or it can also be a developmental crisis that is expected to be experienced in certain life periods (pregnancy, retirement, job change, etc.). Wiger and Harowski (2003) states that not every traumatic event can lead to a crisis. People can show different reactions to the same traumatic events. Some may overcome a certain traumatic situation spontaneously and very easily without the need for help, while others may need professional help. It is possible to talk about some factors (such as coping skills) that determine which traumatic situation can cause a crisis reaction for whom. These factors are discussed later as protective and risk factors.

The crisis situation is not a pathological situation, it is just a "normal response" to an unexpected and "non-normal" situation that causes the psychological balance to be shaken. It is expected that the crisis situation will return to normal after a while. However, pathology can be mentioned in case of failure to return to normal after a reasonable period of time. This “reasonable time” can vary from situation to situation.

It would be useful to briefly mention the concepts of trauma and traumatic reactions. Psychological trauma is the situation in which people's coping skills are inadequate, their general functionality is interrupted and traumatic reactions are revealed in the event of a threat such as a crisis.

Traumatic reactions are often experienced as a result of a loss. This loss may be the loss of a loved one (such as death or divorce) or financial loss (such as bankruptcy). The emotional state experienced as a result of loss is grief. Grief is a normal reaction that can be seen in emotional, behavioral, cognitive, physical and somatic dimensions after a loss. On the other hand, the situation where the grief reactions do not decrease despite at least six months after the loss and often gradually lead to a decrease in the functionality of the individual and/or the person's departure from the mourning norms of the society in which he lives. It is defined as complicated grief, complex grief, unresolved grief, chronic grief, or abnormal grief.

In summary, the concepts of disaster, trauma, and crisis are concepts that can be used interchangeably from time to time and have different meanings in different disciplines. For this reason, these concepts have been tried to be clarified. Although it is emphasized that the definitions of disaster and crisis concepts are "sudden and unexpected" from time to time, it is known that such experiences can happen to anyone at any time. For this very reason, experts now highlight the theme of "being prepared" for such events. Because no one in the world is safe from disasters and crises. On the other hand, people exposed to the same traumatic situation may not be affected at the same rate and may react differently. In this case, the question that comes to mind is what factors might make people stronger or, on the contrary, more vulnerable in the face of difficult life events. This question is especially important for professionals working in the field of mental health. The answer to this question is even more important for professionals working in the field of mental health, as it provides a basis for developing prevention programs to strengthen people before the crisis and recovery programs that can be applied after the crisis.