The best way to survive the earthquake is to ‘socialize’

Expert psychologist Arzu Hamurcu, who argued that citizens should receive psychological support from a specialist if they realize that their fears and anxiety have not subsided within a month of the earthquake, said: “You can see that there is a very intense fear in people. In other words, we see that even most of the people who did not personally experience the earthquake, who were not in the earthquake area, who experienced the earthquake with a mild concussion, are still worried. This is so normal. Because this is what we call secondary trauma.Although they did not personally experience the earthquake, there are many symptoms that most people who indirectly experienced the earthquake will experience.Because we feel this fear and sadness inside, we can show different characteristics , depending on the many events that we have experienced individually.To manage these fears, we may want too much away from this fear. So it may be that we do not want to follow any news.

We may not want to talk to anyone about this incident. Perhaps we want to move away from the subject of earthquakes. We may want to look at different things. We may want to share several stocks. Because if we get away from the truth, we may think we can take control of this situation. We can control the psychological damage we have received from this situation by distancing ourselves from it, or on the contrary, we can think that the closer we are, the easier we can overcome this situation. Accordingly, we can constantly monitor the earthquake news. We can talk to people about the earthquake at any time. We can constantly check the lamps. Accordingly, we can show different movements at many different points.

For example, sleeping problems are very important in this regard. We may want to get away from it by wanting to sleep too much, or we may not want to sleep at all. Because when we’re asleep, we might think we can’t take control. This type of behavior can show different behavior depending on the events we experienced before. These are all very normal. Because these are our normal reactions to an abnormal period. We hope that all these symptoms will subside over time and that we will come out of this period with less damage over time, in an average period of 1 month. If you find that your urge to control over time or your desire to distance yourself from the subject does not diminish in a period of 1 month, it is useful to get psychological support. In any case, it would be more appropriate to go through this process more easily.”

Hamurcu said that socialization is very important during this period, saying, “You can feel very guilty during this period. You’ve heard the word “back to our routines” many times. It may seem like a luxury to do the things we now do in our normal lives. This is a long process and if we really want to support earthquake victims, we must first support ourselves. Psychologically, we should take care of ourselves first and then help others better. You can think of it as putting on the oxygen mask ourselves first. When we take care of ourselves, we take better care of each other. So please don’t blame yourself for anything in times like these. Because it is the best way to win the war you are fighting during this period. So listen to yourself.

Make room for your emotions. Make room for your needs and do what you want to do. During this period, there may be many stocks that will make you feel bad. I recommend that you step away from them for a while. This return to your routines section doesn’t mean you’re not following the agenda. Instead of watching too much news, I can advise you to return to your daily life a little more. In this regard, you can create space for your feelings and needs and focus on what you need. While working or studying at your place of work, we will need to take a break, step back from that process, talk to your loved ones and have a chat. Please share this with your loved ones especially if they are afraid of earthquakes. Do not accumulate inside. Because especially sharing during this period will take us further away from this situation, we call it secondary trauma. Not everyone experiences post-traumatic stress disorder. With the right support and psychological resources, we can get out of this situation.”