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LOCALwww.sunherald.com Monday, December 24, 2007 A 3

Resiliency after traumacan influence growth

By JOSHUA NORMANjdnorman@sunherald.com

Frank was diagnosed with

schizophrenia when he was ateenager, struggled with treat-ment for decades, lost hisapartment and most of hisworldly possessions to Hurri-cane Katrina, then watchedhis father die from heart fail-ure almost immediately there-after, and is feeling much bet-ter and more secure todaythan he has in a long time.

Frank, who asked that hisreal name not be used in thisstory, is exemplary of growingthrough and in spite of trau-ma, an experience whichmany psychologists call post-traumatic growth.

“I feel more relaxed andless stressed in my day-to-daylife,” Frank said in a recentinterview. “The Katrina thingdid have a much more power-ful effect on not just me butmy whole family than Ithought about while I wasgoing through it. The singlegreatest thing that has helpedme work through the stressand be devoid of any more ofit is the fact that I began totalk my way through it.”

While many psychologistsand academics have focusedfor years on the negative reac-tions to traumas like disastersand wars, recently some havefocused on what happens topeople like Frank.

There are many ways youcan improve yourself after atraumatic event, said RichardTedeschi, a psychologist atthe University of North Caro-lina at Charlotte, who is one ofthe nation’s experts on PTG.However, fostering personal

growth after a traumatic eventis a mysterious art at best, asFrank’s example illustrates.

“That’s not a question that’sbeen very well answered atthis point,” said Tedeschi, add-ing that relative to those focus-ing on the negative effects oftrauma, academics and psy-chologists studying PTG likehim are very few. “There’sbeen very little focus on howto turn this into somethingproductive. You can’t be for-mulaic about it. (It’s importantto) distinguish between theevent and the aftermath of theevent. For example, you can’tsay to a person, ‘It’s a goodthing that (something horriblehappened to you) given thegrowth afterward.’ ”

There are five main areas ofpersonal growth that peopletalk about after traumaticevents, Tedeschi said. Theyare spiritual growth, improvedsense of self, enhanced rela-tionships, a general apprecia-tion of the value of life, andbeing set on a positive new lifecourse or new life path.

In Frank’s case, he experi-enced a little bit of all thosethings after Katrina.

“I think generally speaking,the innate nature of his illnessnever goes away,” said Will,Frank’s brother, whose namehas also been changed for thisstory. “I think overall, in hisown way, I think it gave him apretty good perspective. Nowthat it’s all said and done, herealizes things are pretty com-fortable. The everyday littlechallenges that he’s got, herealizes that we’re not really

overall in such bad shape.”Hurricane Katrina forced

many people like Frank to seethe world from a broader per-spective, said Jeff Bennett,director of Gulf Coast MentalHealth Center, the sliding-scale mental health treatmentprovider serving all of Harri-son and Hancock counties.

“I have seen a number ofpeople experience growth byliving through that,” Bennettsaid. “They get a sense of con-fidence and self-reliance theydidn’t have.”

In the mental health field,treatment providers walk afine line between getting peo-ple to grow themselves andforcing their personal growth,Bennett said.

“We develop these safetynets for them and sometimes Iworry if we seriously overdoit,” Bennett said. “You cer-tainly don’t want people to suf-fer to the point that they’re inconstant mental pain, but lifehas suffering in it. Many of thepatients surprise themselves(with their PTG.)”

The term resiliency hasbeen tossed around a lot onthe Coast post-Katrina, Ben-nett said, not entirelycoincidentally.

“Those are kind of connect-ed, resiliency and growth —not giving up, hanging tough,”Bennett said.

Frank said he agrees, add-ing that getting there may behard, but the path to personalimprovement is available toeveryone.“It’s simple: Talk about it,”Frank said. “It can open a lotof doors.”˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙

Joshua Norman is a Media Fel-low with the Henry J. KaiserFamily Foundation studyingpost-Katrina mental healthissues.

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Minnesota helpers heading down

By NATALIE CHAMBERS NETTLESSUN HERALD

OCEAN SPRINGS — A bus load of Minneso-

tans will make the trek to the Gulf Coast thisweek to continue Hurricane Katrina reliefefforts.

“This is our seventh trip. The maximum wecan bring is 47,” the Rev. Ed Wheatley, pastorof St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stacy, Minn.,said by telephone Friday.

“We are working with Camp Victory inOcean Springs, supported by the LutheranDisaster Relief. They give us a dormitory tostay in and food, and we go out and work. Inthe course of five days, we will spend 40 hourshelping to rebuild people’s lives and homes,”Wheatley said.

Their mission is to continue assisting theGulf Coast — Mississippi and Louisiana —until rebuilding efforts are completed, he said.

“There are over 500 (Mississippi) familiesstill asking for Sheetrock, taping, painting andfor work. We imagine we will be doing this fora couple more years until nobody else needshelp,” Wheatley said.

The Katrina relief group also will bring giftsof food supplies to restock the pantry at CampVictor, which continues to assist the needy.

“We can’t imagine what (Gulf Coast) wentthrough. It is a small part to say we are willingto help. I have seen tornadoes and floods buttrust me, the devastation that I saw there isenough to keep me motivated for years tocome,” Wheatley said.

The volunteers will consist of skilled andunskilled workers, 16 years and older.

“This is a bad economy and we have a lot oflaborers who are not working right now,” hesaid. “We have people who can’t come on theirown but they are giving money to sponsorother people. It costs $299 for the bus, foodand lodging.”

Approximately 212 people come from acrossthe United States, each week, to donate timeto Camp Victory, Wheatley said.

Supplies and tools are provided by CampVictory.

Group will be staying atCamp Victory during trip