Children are often found to have difficulty expressing their trauma after natural disaster, and two community programs offer help in these areas.
A story in the Clarion Ledger reports on the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina on children in the area.
“Say recovery takes a year,” Alice Fothergill, professor of sociology at the University of Vermont and co-author of the book “Children of Katrina” told The Clarion Ledger. “If you’re 35, a year is a long, awful time. But if you’re 9, a year is a huge deal. If you miss a year, you can’t necessarily get that back.”
In Texas, a children’s art showcase from the Mental Health America of Greater Houston helps children work through some of their fears by drawing depictions of their loss or pain. “We often talk about children in terms of resiliency—that they seem to bounce back quickly from adversity. But that’s not the reality—especially in extreme circumstances,” Tilicia Johnson, mental health literacy manager for MHA Houston told The Houston Chronicle. “While on the surface the child may seem fine once the crying stops, the gravity of disaster situations weighs on the child’s mind.”
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