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Trauma’s little flashlight

6 min read

To the editor:

Post traumatic stress disorder, post traumatic stress anxiety, call it what you will it has many, many names. Some people associate PTSD with the amazing men and women who survive horrific experiences during wars. A long time ago those men and women were often called shell shocked, cowards, weak, and some would go AWOL due to this and were even put to death as a result of desertion. Life gives us many different traumatic experiences, it just does, it’s a part of our lives. Not everyone can handle all these traumatic situations in the same way. In fact you could go through one trauma without it disrupting your mental/emotional well being, and then go through another of a different sort and everything in your life is turned completely upside-down.

The traumas we go through can’t be gauged the same for everyone. My trauma isn’t yours, and yours isn’t mine. Even if we both go through the same trauma it doesn’t mean we’ll react the same to it. Sometimes in the midst of a traumatic situation you are fine and it’s not until months later you are thrown off kilter from it. These bits and pieces of our lives are shared by everyone!

The trauma of Hurricane Ian is very real, very, very real. Every single person that has been touched by Hurricane Ian — from the first person to the last — from the moment it impacted our lives changing them from what they once were to what they are now -we have experienced a trauma. LET’S CALL IT WHAT IT IS! Let’s not laugh it off, let’s not shrug our shoulders and carry on, let’s not hoist up a facade of bravery as if it was a mere thunderstorm. I’ve been through three (what I would call significant) hurricanes in my life: Hurricane Charlie, minor damage to my house/yard, no electricity for five days, still had internet at my sister’s house where we stayed. Hurricane Irma, minor damage to my house, moderate damage to my yard, four days without electricity, still had internet at my sister’s house where we stayed. Hurricane Ian, moderate damage to my lanai, major damage to my yard, eight days without electricity, sporadic internet with a hotspot for who knows how long. By far, Hurricane Ian has been the worst.

With all of those three hurricanes there was trauma, you can’t just witness the destruction they leave behind and not have it affect you.

We are the survivors of Hurricane Ian, and there are a lot of us, praise God!

There are survivors of Hurricane Fiona as well, and many others storms summer, winter and all in between.

We are SURVIVORS because we do go through those storms. The brutal winds and rains, the fearful shaking of windows and the noise of destruction-all of it wrecks havoc on us. We go through it just waiting and waiting for it to be over! We SURVIVE! We are survivors. Don’t let people downplay this, please, no one should downplay surviving traumas no matter what kind they are.

If you are or if you should in the future feel any post traumatic stress/anxiety/fear etc from what you’ve just gone through with this major hurricane that you just survived, please, talk about it with others, let them know you aren’t OK with it all. Let them know that your whole life has been affected and you’re struggling and you need to talk, you need to be with others, you need to find someone to hug, you are bruised and battered emotionally, mentally, and maybe physically from all the aftermath clean up. Do not be ashamed to seek others for this, you are not weak! You are a SURVIVOR! You are human, you are precious, you are strong just in recognizing you are vulnerable to life and its traumas.

What made me write this… I glanced over at my nightstand and saw the little flashlight there a short while ago. My electricity was turned on yesterday, but I had to have that little flashlight there on my nightstand.

Earlier I’d put all the others (I had several about the house) together on a kitchen table, waiting to be put away.

I had to have that little flashlight on my nightstand.

And you know what, as I glanced at it just a short while ago, I didn’t pick it up to put it away, it’s going to be on my nightstand tonight, too, and who knows, maybe tomorrow and the next night. Why? Because last night I kept it there just incase the lights went out again. I feel a sense of unease because of the hurricane. It’s called trauma. So if that little flashlight on my nightstand gives me a bit of piece of mind, it’ll stay there — it’s not hurting anyone. No, we aren’t expecting another hurricane (that I know of) any time soon. The chance of the lights going back off are really slim. There’s really no reason for me to keep that flashlight there, but guess what, it’s going to be there — at least for tonight — I’ll see what tomorrow brings.

If you have any “little flashlights” in your life right now that help you through the trauma, it’s OK, it’s really OK. We having coping mechanisms that kick in and it’s OK, time, love, friends, family, neighbors, and yes, even strangers will help us get through it all. Don’t be ashamed of your trauma, or your trauma responses, recognize them for what they are, talk about them… if you have no one else to talk to about them, talk to me, I’ll understand.

Because I am a God-loving, Christ-following, Holy Spirit receiver, I am going to keep praying and I know God will give me what I need to be His always. As I go through the really dark valleys of trauma, I know He’ll see me through. He has before and He will again and again, and again. Will it be easy? No, it’s not always easy at all. Some of those dark valleys are really deep, but my God is greater than the darkest, deepest valley, He is the light at the end and the light all the way through even when — like the stars on a cloudy night — I can’t see that light, I know He’s there! God bless you all, have an amazingly blessed Sabbath! All through the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Amen!!!!!!!

Dorene Hughes

Cape Coral