What is the fear of earthquakes? How are you?

Although the symptoms of this fear, which will seriously affect our lives, generally vary from person to person; sleep disturbances, fear of even a small movement, desire to cry, feeling intensely unwell, depression, thinking that an earthquake is coming, and being unable to continue daily life due to feeling a lot of pain about what happened during the earthquake happened.

We tend to see the world as a safe place from natural disasters. But after every natural disaster, we meet again and realize that the world is not really a safe place. As time passes, the world feels like a safe place for us again.

Psychologist İsmail Aykut Öztürk explains this matter as follows and lists the precautions to be taken against the fears experienced after the earthquake.

Earthquake word; it evokes death, being under the rubble, the possibility of losing loved ones, pain, sorrow and trauma. It does not create a positive mood. It’s mostly about the bad and the negative. A person is always afraid, afraid and worried about the negative. In other words, it is not necessary to experience an earthquake, be under the rubble or lose a loved one to fear an earthquake. Earthquakes are always scary, just like any other natural disaster.

As with all other fears and anxieties, in order to deal with the fear of earthquakes, it is necessary not to reject it. After experiencing an earthquake, you may have trouble sleeping. Going through this example, when you put your head on the pillow, you might contemplate the possibility of an earthquake at any time, or a crackling sound from another place might make you fear that an earthquake will happen.

At these times, your mind is sure that something bad can happen, so you can’t think about the possibility that there won’t be an earthquake. Because there is fear and anxiety. But taking a deep breath and considering the possibility that there won’t be an earthquake at that time will relieve you. Once you have experienced this, you fear that you will fear an earthquake again the next day, and as this process continues, you find yourself afraid of being afraid. The fear of earthquakes, like all other fears, decreases with acceptance. There are strong reasons behind your fears. As long as you accept the possibility of these reasons; You have to accept the possibility that it won’t happen.

While it may seem that the fears and anxieties are what upset people the most after the earthquake, “negative thoughts” are instrumental in creating this discomfort. “There will be another earthquake and I will not be able to leave the house.”, “If my loved ones cannot escape, even if I survive, how will I continue my life?”, “Who knows how many hours later they will save me when I’m under the rubble? How can I stay there so hungry and thirsty?” When such thoughts enter your mind, it is necessary to avoid these thoughts and face them instead of rejecting them. When you mean them again, relax mentally and physically.

Without rejecting negative thoughts, keep thinking about them, accepting them as a possibility; “If there is an earthquake, the house cannot collapse.”, “Even if there is an earthquake, my loved ones and me cannot be harmed.”, “The sounds I hear may not be caused by the earthquake.” , “I can’t sleep because an earthquake is coming, but as long as I don’t take my precautions, there’s no difference between sleeping or not sleeping.” It is necessary to be able to construct sentences such as This opens the way for you to focus not only on the negative, but also on the positive.

Taking action always relieves anxiety. Therefore; Your level of fear and anxiety will increase if you live in a high-risk building, don’t prepare an earthquake kit, don’t think about how to behave in case of an earthquake, don’t fix the things in the house, and similar situations.