Topic Tuesday // Life After Bushfires // Tues 19th January, 7:00-8:30PM AEDT

[Former-Member]

Thanks so much for joining and sharing so openly @outlander

[Fizz]

Wow @Daisydreamer anniversary stuff is a reall trigger for so many.
So far in the past week I've been reminded about other anniversaries affecting people close to me - 10 years since devastating floods in Brisbane and only yesterday it was 44 years since the Granville train disaster ..... 
I personally feel it's important to recognise such anniversaries given the personal impact they have on you - it can be confronting I know but I try to build resilience from remembering such things 

Some great websites I have discovered to add to, supplement  any professional help you may be getting and engaging with others such as through forums etc is 

Action For Hapiness:

https://www.actionforhappiness.org/

[TideisTurning]

My goodness @Klutz. I can imagine how invalidating that would have felt, and frustrating to boot I'll bet! Triggers all around. I'm sorry that's the way you've learnt the meaning of the word. 

[Daisydreamer]

In terms of triggers, last year during the bushfires I realised that it brought up a lot of things for me that I thought I had managed before. Throughout my childhood I lived in bushfire affected areas, and lived through bushfires in my community. Even though I had had counselling and support, the smoke and the news brought a lot of the feelings back to the surface for me.

I really had to step up my self care, and make sure that I was speaking to others throughout the bushfires last year to let those around me know that I wasn't coping. I tried to avoid going out into the smoke where I could, and started counselling again. Also taking a break from the news and social media made a difference.

This year when we came into summer, I was scared again. And in these times I've tried to be patient with myself and listen to the signs of stress in my body to know when I need to seek help or engage in self care strategies. It will be something I have come up for me in future, and now I know my triggers I can be better prepared.

[Shaz51]

@Daisydreamer , @Klutz , @KingParrot , @JLD , @TideisTurning , @Fizz 

Mine is people always asking me how did the fire start 

Or that you have only lost things in the fire or the cyclone 

Harder for my Mr shaz  who has multiple diagnosis of MI

[Klutz]

@JLD I admire you staying.Apart from looking at the remains of my shop and home on Jan Ist I have not been back and really am not sure I can ever go back as it would be so painful.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to look at your burnt property everyday.

[TideisTurning]

For me, having been fortunate enough not to have been affected by bushfires, I feel like my triggers, related to other experiences, are a little different to many here. In terms of strategies though to help promote wellbeing and combat the triggers I do have- I’ve found letting some other people into parts of my experiences, as scary as that can be, to be really helpful. Also pausing and naming the reaction for what it is when I notice what’s happening and taking a breath and reminding myself that while the particular situation has acted as a trigger, it is just that and is in fact different to what happened before- this has at times been aided by the people I’ve let in, who have also prompted me with this and highlighted some of the differences for me.

[Fizz]

yeah @Daisydreamer taking breaks from the socials and general media definitely help with the triggering - I was riveted  to teh fire coverage on ABC and I could actually identify the exact spots where Hamish and other journos on ABC News 24 were standing when they did their reports during the fires from towns like Batemans Bay, Mogo, Broulee, Moruya, Narooma, Bermagui, Cobargo, Candelo, Bega, Tathra, Merimbula, Eden etc - it just made it worse but I kept watching .....

[Shaz51]

@Daisydreamer , yes it does not matter how  many cyclones  you go through,  it still scares us on How big, what damage,  when , where 

[Daisydreamer]

Acknowledging the anniversary is an important step @Fizz, and it sounds like you did research to find resources that could help you manage the impact of trauma associated with anniversaries.

Question 5:

Are there any resources for self care and wellbeing that you have found helpful?

And what were you able to put in place for yourself to practice self care?

Action for happiness is a great one!