CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Help awaits for residents struggling with weather-related mental health issues

Joplin Globe - 4/10/2021

Apr. 10—When severe weather approaches Southwest Missouri, appearing as ugly red and yellow welts on local weather radar screens, Joplin'sRoger Sapp begins to feel that all-too-familiar sense of dread crawling up his spine.

On the night of Sunday, May 22, 2011, he and his wife, Jolene, were outside trimming the hedges of their Duquesne home when the storm sirens around them sounded. It was starting to rain, and there was a growing sound "like the furnace kicking on," he said.

The tornado, he would only realize later, was seconds from overwhelming their home. The couple moved to an interior room to seek shelter "when all hell broke loose."

After the storm had subsided and Sapp had made sure they were both physically OK, he moved to the front door for a peek outside. What he saw "looked like a bomb had gone off." The houses directly across the street, he said, "were leveled."

Fast forward a decade to 2021, and the couple still have trouble with storms, blaming it on anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Apprehension builds each time tornado-spawning storms near the Missouri-Kansas border. Sapp said he can't even handle when people in the neighborhood light fireworks on July 4; the noises remind him too much of the sounds the tornado made as it tore into his house.

"We're getting better," Sapp said, "but we're always on the lookout."

This isn't the first time that Kayla Hoffman Pekarek, with the Joplin branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has heard this type of story. In fact, she's heard it far too often. She said that just two months after the tornado, NAMI reported three area deaths that were attributed to PTSD and depression, with dozens of people reporting suicidal thoughts. Calls to the local crisis hotline had quadrupled.

According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, weather-related PTSD indicators could include:

—Reexperiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks and nightmares.

—Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people and activities that are reminders of the trauma.

—Increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy and being easily irritated and angered.

Triggering events, Pekarek said, can vary. Certain smells or scents, the feeling of being trapped or someone sneaking up behind someone — each of these actions "can have a very negative impact for the individual who lives with post-traumatic stress on a daily basis," she said. "These are just the tip of the iceberg of what PTSD can and does look and feel like. There are so many more layers to it."

Tips for coping

While Alice Rauniker wasn't living in Joplin at the time of the 2011 tornado, she had family members directly impacted by the storm. Her brother's apartment, which fronted Connecticut Avenue, was destroyed. Her niece, who lived in McCune, Kansas, could see the storm and its multiple tornadoes forming to the west.

While living in Texas and watching the events in Southwest Missouri unfold on her television set, "all the news we heard was how terrible the destruction of buildings, loss of life and the outpouring of Joplin love," she said. "It's something you never forget."

She's now overcome with sickening anxiety when storm sirens sound.

"The anxiety ... still bothers me today," Rauniker said.

Pekarek, who said she also suffers from PTSD, said she's worked out several coping strategies to help ease anxiety.

"Music is a big one. It helps with so many things if you think about it," she said. "Sometimes I write, color, watch funny movies or be creative with broken things — I find making new things out of them (to be relaxing)."

Working out, taking slow, deep breaths and counseling others in need also can help.

"Find what helps calm you down and put you in a good place," Pekarek said. "But the one thing you don't want to do is self-medicate. Turning to drugs, alcohol or any other addictive behavior starts an entirely new set of problems that will need to be dealt with at some point."

As the 10th anniversary of the 2011 tornado approaches next month, Pekarek encouraged individuals who are still struggling to reach out.

"Ten years is never too late to get help or help someone who needs it," she said.

Joplin NAMI offers two free support groups. The Connections Recovery Support Group meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and is open to any adult who has experienced symptoms of a mental health condition. The Creative Wellness Art Group meets from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays.

___

(c)2021 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.)

Visit The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.) at www.joplinglobe.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.