My condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones in this earthquake that affected our geography. I also convey my best wishes to all individuals affected by this earthquake. Since Anatolia, home to ancient civilizations, has a young soil structure, earthquake is a bitter reality of our country. Our country has once again faced this reality very heavily. Not only those who experienced this disaster, but all of us deeply feel the effects of the earthquake.
While giving psychological counseling service in Erzurum, I rolled up my sleeves to heal the wounds, like many volunteers, after the earthquake. In a short time, I contacted many volunteer experts, non-governmental organizations, hotel and apartment owners, associations and foundations. With our expert team of psychologists and psychological counselors, we try to alleviate the effects of the experiences by providing psychological first aid to the people affected by the earthquake.
Our teams that go to the region try to touch the hearts with psychosocial studies. In addition, we meet the needs of the wounded hearts who migrated from the earthquake region and came to our city together. In this context, we carried out studies to meet the basic needs of those who came to Erzurum after the disaster, such as nutrition, clothing and shelter. Then, we interviewed our guests who settled in hotels, apartments, university dormitories, guesthouses of various government institutions, houses and their relatives. In the interviews, we encountered intense emotional reactions such as shock, sadness, anger, helplessness, hopelessness, panic and extreme fear after the earthquake. We even realized that they felt marginalized and hurt from the word “earthquake victims”.
We observed that our little guests showed reactions such as bedwetting, thumb sucking, not being able to separate from their parents and introversion. When faced with these situations, parents should try to reassure and comfort their children. Before going to sleep, they can go to their children and pat their heads, and they can comfort their little hearts by showing them their love. Teachers of our school-age children can provide opportunities for children to express their feelings through playing games, painting, poetry and writing activities. Everyone who is in contact with these puppies should be patient, interested and flexible. Curious children should explain what they are curious about in a short and clear way appropriate for their age. By giving these children simple tasks, we can give them the opportunity to take small responsibilities and return to their daily life routines. Young people who develop negative thoughts about their future and feel helpless and hopeless should be approached with tolerance, high expectations should not be placed on their school success, and they should be encouraged to participate in daily activities.
In adults, we have witnessed that they experience the earthquake again and again, that they are startled by simple sounds such as the sound of a door slamming, which they would not be affected by in normal times, and that they did not sleep for days. We have seen that some of our guests, who think that there will be an earthquake at any moment, wear coats on top of each other in their hot rooms, do not want to stay on high floors, hesitate to use elevators, and engage in many similar avoidance behaviors. In fact, the whole country was affected by this disaster. Although we did not directly experience the earthquake, our citizens of all ages, big and small, give similar reactions showing that they were affected by the earthquake. In fact, these observations are the usual reactions we develop in extraordinary times. We predict that the behaviors of most of the individuals who show these reactions will decrease and disappear over time. However, individuals who show these reactions, which gradually increase in a way that makes life more difficult instead of decreasing over time, should receive expert support.
I hope that these experiences will lead us to be more socially sensitive, prepared and cautious.
Psychological Counselor Yavuz AKTEPE
