Counselor’s Corner Car Accidents and Nightmares

Question: I recently had a car accident. Since then, I have been afraid about driving and I have nightmares at night about the accident. What is going on?Answer: Car accidents are a traumatic event, but most people really minimize car accidents, especially if a person is not seriously injured. You have been traumatized by this accident, which means that an event happened to you that you were not expecting and your life was threatened. When someone is traumatized by an event, such as an accident, natural disaster, or violent crime, then the body goes into high alert. Within 1/100th of a second, one part of the brain alerts another part and the body begins to produce stress hormones – such as adrenal and cortisol. Your body is prepared for an emergency. Your heart races, you have tremendous energy in your arms and legs, your stomach stops digesting, and you are hyper-vigilant to your surroundings. You are on high alert to have the flight or freeze response that God gave us to respond to danger. Once the danger is over, then the brain alerts the body and the body stops producing the stress hormones and settles down.

Sometimes if the traumatic event is very overwhelming or continues for a long time, like people in New Orleans experienced with Katrina, then the body stays in the stress response. Although the stress response is good for short-term, it is not good for long-term. So, if you are experiencing stress, such as nightmares, fear, avoidance or obsessive thoughts, then that means that your body is still in high alert. You brain is producing stress hormones and your brain is trying to make sense of the event. It’s very normal for this to happen immediately following a traumatic event, but if it continues over a week after the event, then it is something to be concerned about.

Being on high alert may mean that you are having physical symptoms, like fatigue, nausea, headaches, and muscle tremors. You may have cognitive symptoms, such as confusion, difficulty making decisions, nightmares, and/ or flashbacks of the event. You may have emotional symptoms like anxiety, guilt, grief, denial, depression, irritability, and/ or panic. You may have behavioral symptoms, like desire to withdraw from others, change in activity, increase or decrease in appetite, and/or startle response. Finally, you may have spiritual symptoms, like anger at God, questioning if God cares or is in control, a withdrawal from church, and/or a loss of purpose.

Before talking to a professional, first try to do some things that really help you relax. Your body needs to come off of the high intensity response to the trauma. Drink water, avoid caffeine, exercise, and worship. Do things that purposely calm you. Find someone that listens well to share your story, which helps you make sense of everything that has happened. Ask God to show you what good could possibly come from this event, such as greater appreciation for your family and life or improvement in driving skills. If you continue to have these symptoms, consult with a medical doctor or a counselor.

Michele Louviere serves as Clinical Director of Celebration Hope Center, a ministry of Healing Hearts for Community Development (HHCD). You can connect with Michele and learn more about how HHCD is bringing help, hope and healing to New Orleans by visiting www.HealingHeartsNola.org.

Q & A with Counselor, Megan Clunan

Question: I feel so stressed out! I am unable to accomplish enough. I am overwhelmed at work and home, and now I have started having really bad headaches and even pressure in my chest. Help! Do you know what may be wrong in my life?Answer: Yes, you are experiencing some level of negative anxiety in your life. Those thoughts, sentiments and experiences are all too common among individuals today. According to current statistics, “anxiety is the most common mental illness in the U.S. today, affecting over 40 million adults in the United States. Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion total each year and almost one third of the country’s $148 billion total mental health bill.

In fact more than $22.84 billion of the costs associated with the repeated use of health care services is sought out by people who are experiencing the physical side affects of anxiety. Individuals who experience physical symptoms of anxiety often mislabel what they are experiencing as simply physical and therefore seek health physician after health physician in hopes of discovering relief.

Mental health related issues which can stem from continued negative anxiety include: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Various Eating Disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Various Phobias. Potential physical effects, or psychosomatic disorders, as a result of anxiety include: Headaches – typically tension headaches which lead to migraines, chest pressure and heart palpitations, muscle tension, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, shortness of breath and irritable bowl syndrome. Needless to say, anxiety has the potential to be very detrimental to ones mental and physical self. Therefore individuals must be proactive in fighting the anxiety ridden lifestyle.

Meditation is just one way in which we can fight anxiety. A recent clinical trial showed improvements in coronary heart disease risk factors, including lower blood pressure, among heart patients who practiced meditation. Meditation does not mean one simply sits and thinks about nothing for hours on end, rather in mindfulness meditation the person focuses on a particular item, rolling that thought around in their mind for 10-20 minutes.

As believers, God has provided us with many good truths, many statements of hope, and many instructions which are intended to help us live in confident peace rather than in an anxious free fall. The Bible supplies truths which we, as believers, must take time to focus (meditate) upon – even if that time is just 10 minutes. In the action of meditation we begin to fight anxiety while experiencing the energizing freedom of what it means to live in the peace of Christ. All throughout the Psalms we see the psalmist meditating upon the Word of God (Psalm 1:2, Psalm 39:3, Psalm 48:9, Psalm 77:12, Psalm 119:15, 23, 27, 48), and we should follow in his example. I challenge you, this week to begin taking 10 minutes out of your day to meditate on the simple truths of God’s word. Isn’t it time to take hold of the life that is truly life? Begin today by meditating on God’s word. Doing so will help shift your focus away from what everything around you is saying you must strive toward and onto His perspective for your life.

Megan Clunan
Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy – Student Counseling Intern for The Celebration Hope Center

March 2009 E-Newsletter

Greetings!! Healing Hearts for Community Development (HHCD) is happy to report that the Celebration Hope and Counselor Training Center is nearing completion at the Airline Drive Campus of Celebration Church in Metairie. As most of you know, the entire campus of Celebration Church was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The Celebration Hope and Counselor Training Center will be a Beacon of Hope to a city which continues to struggle with its recovery and to the thousands of people whose lives were forever changed. Our staff of trained professional counselors, along with counseling interns and practicum students, and Counselors in Training (CIT) with the addictions program, bring help, hope and healing to hundreds of individuals, children, adolescents, couples, and families throughout the New Orleans area.

We are very excited about what God has been doing through HHCD’s Celebration Hope Center. In 2008, the Celebration Hope Center

 served 500 adults, children, adolescents, couples and families with an array of mental health needs bringing emotional healing and renewing many marriages and families;
 treated 100 individuals seeking to overcome the ravages of addictions in their lives giving them the support they need for long-term recovery;
 provided strength-based case management for our mental health and addiction clients to insure their long-term recovery;
 met the physical needs of numerous families in making their lives whole after the destruction brought by Hurricane Katrina.

Your help in bringing help, hope, and healing to the people of New Orleans would be greatly appreciated.

Here’s how you can help:

 Pray for our clients to be healed.
 Pray for our counselors as they work each day to help our clients recover.
 Pray for the buildout of the Celebration Hope and Counselor Training Center.
 Make a Donation to continue the greatly needed counseling services. Each $50 you give will provide one (1) hour of counseling for an individual, couple, child or adolescent.
 Make a Donation toward the Counseling Center Buildout.
 Volunteer to help at the Celebration Hope Center.

Due to state budget cuts, HHCD has lost two (2) major contracts to provide mental health and addiction services in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes. Therefore, your help at this time is crucial for hurting people to receive the help, hope and healing that God wants them to experience.

Thank you for partnering with us.