Doc (00:00):
I'm Doc and this is the What Hope Sounds like podcast. And what does hope sound like in terms of mental health in a disaster? We're talking with Donna Gibbs today. She is the owner operator of Summit Wellness Centers. Also the director or creator I guess, of Faith Connect here in the western North Carolina area, and most recently has been unofficially helping the North Carolina Department of Transportation with organization. What's the main thing right now with where people are with this disaster? What can we expect? Where should we go? Those questions.
Donna  (00:35):
I think where we are at this particular phase, and it's not a definitive because different people are going to be at different places depending on their situation. Some who are still in that survival mode or they have family members who are still trapped or something like that. They are still very much going to be in survival mode on the fight or flight. Others who are having more access now to resources, more access to supplies, maybe they're discovering that they found all their people, the shock now is beginning to wear off for them. And that is when they may be noticing more of the symptoms of distress, just sorrow, deep, deep sorrow and grief, and they're having more access to the news or to pictures or to social media and they're going to feel it. And when I say feel it, I mean in the messiest kind of way, this is not just grief, but there's a mix of trauma in there and it's really, really messy. You can feel a lot of different emotions at the same time, and you can feel them at an intensity that you're not accustomed to. And for many people it'll make you feel like you're going crazy. And I just want to say if you're feeling all of that and the roller coaster of emotions, sometimes feeling hopeful, sometimes feeling angry, sometimes feeling scared, sometimes just you don't even know a word for the emotion you're feeling. I would say you're not going crazy. That's just a normal response to a very abnormal situation.
Doc (02:25):
What are some practical things that someone can do? Two part question. The first part is if I'm noticing that I'm an emotional rollercoaster, what are some practical things that I can do? And then the second part is if I noticed a loved one who is going through the emotional rollercoaster that you just described, what are some practical things that I can do for my loved ones?
Donna (02:49):
Yeah, these are really, we get back to the real basics here, I would think. Let's not think about counseling, let's not think about therapy stuff. Just think crisis response. And so one of the first things is literally telling your brain that you are safe right here, right now. Because if they're in that state, then they likely are safe. And so just telling your brain that because the brain that has been in survival mode for days can try to stay in survival mode when you're safe. I think the other thing to do is just resist the temptation to look inward only. And it's very normal, particularly when some depression or something like that sets in that will look inward. Doc. One of the most beautiful things that I've watched in these days was I mentioned to you that I've been helping with the logistics for the N-C-D-O-T and was setting up what is now like a mini city camp for crews that have come from all over the place to help.
(04:04):
And in the early days when I could get enough cell connection, I was reaching out to people who could come help me clean out a warehouse. And those who showed up were those who were in really desperate situations. One who had his house was uninhabitable, another, she had no contact with her mother, with her other siblings didn't know where they were. We were maybe three days in at that point. So a lot of distress with that. Others, their businesses were entirely impacted and everybody there had something significant that would've allowed, given them the opportunity really turned inward. But they said over and over I knew that I had to be here. I knew it would be good for me. And that morning I had just prayed, God, not a lot of time to just get into the word and I just prayed, God, I don't have time to get into the word.
(05:04):
I just need you to give me a word. Will you please just give me a scripture? And I opened up the word and I went to the last place I had been studying in the book of Philippians. And the next verse doc was chapter two verses three and four. And it says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. But each of you look not only to his own interest but also to the interest of others. And I shared that with them that morning. And we had a moment of worship and we cleaned out that warehouse. But what stood out to me in that scripture that scripture does not say, do not look after your own interest. It says, look to your own interest and the same way that you look to the interest of others. So if you're in one of these places of distress, take care of your needs. You're going to have needs. Most everybody in Western North Carolina has had some need, something they've had to navigate. So you do that and you also then look around and who else has needs and how can I come alongside with them because that is like a helper's high that impacts some of the chemicals in the brain that are going to help you navigate all of the loss and all of the emotions in a much healthier way.
Doc (06:27):
If I can't manage, if there's a person saying, I can't do this, I can't manage it, and the symptoms going along with that, is there help available right now or are we still in a weight and weight mode?
Donna (06:44):
Well, doc, to be honest on this, the help that can be available is a skeleton crew right now, just because many of our mental health workers have also been directly impacted and they're trying to navigate their own needs. So we do have some that are at distribution sites, some that are going to be flowing into the shelters. A lot of the focus for crisis response is going to be on first responders still right now. But I would say to them, if you can't access someone right away, go to a friend. Just being in the presence of another person, sometimes preventing the isolation is important. Make a phone call to someone who's on the outside that you can trust and get around some other people that is important. But there is more help coming and many of the ministry leaders and the counselors that are here who are soon going to be able to transition themselves and be made available.
(08:01):
So I'd say that, hold on, help more help is coming in that regard. Not just help here, but help from the outside. But keep in mind that many of our mental health professionals have been displaced. Many of their homes are also, they're in the same boat with everyone. So hold on. More help is coming in that there's a crisis hotline that is nationwide. And if you can't reach anyone else and you're really feeling like you're in symptoms of distress, make that phone call. There are professionals on the other end of that line who can meet you at that point of need and walk you through.
Doc 08:37):
Okay, now let's go and stretch out a little bit. We get through this crisis, we're starting to rebuild. I've got a semblance of a home. Maybe I'm in my home again and I've got food and shelter, but I just can't get past the shock of what's happened, what are the symptoms and where do I go from there?
Donna  (08:55):
Yeah. You all know I talk a lot about resilience. A lot of my writing has been surrounding resilience, and boy, it's a word that is appropriate for this particular time. I think one of the most important things that we can do as we conceptualize what's happening is to recognize that resilience is not about bouncing back. We are not like a rubber band and we stretch out in a moment of crisis and then we can just snap back in place the way things always were. Things are going to be a little different, particularly for the next six months or so. And some things are just going to be different. I think of resilience more like a bouncy ball. We bounce forward, not bouncing back. And the reason I make that distinction is because when we're trying so hard to get back to the way things were, we're resistant then to God allowing us to create something new that God's moving and creating something new.
(10:05):
I think of the scripture in Isaiah 43 18. It says, remember not the former things like forget the former things nor consider the things of old behold, I am doing a new thing now. It springs forth. Do you not perceive it? Are you going to miss it? And it goes on to describe making a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, like the impossible. And again, I think what happens and what could happen, and I'll tell you what is already happening for some who are in distress, is because they're trying so hard to get things back the way they were a week and a half ago, that they're having to use really unhealthy coping skills in doing so. And we're in America, and though we're in a crisis, we still have resources that are unhealthy coping skills, the things that will numb the alcohol, those who have access to food now, it would be easy to really, really numb your way into it. Those who have access to the internet now, it would be really, really easy to numb your way through things that are going to create an addiction. And so be cautious about the coping skills that you are using because we know that true resilience is when we move through the raw, the hard, the pain.
(11:24):
And God's moving us through that. And we are utilizing the healthy coping skills, staying in his word, crying out the same messy, desperate prayers that David did in the Psalms, circling ourself with people who are healthy for us, who we can live life with, getting outside looking for the victories. I encourage people every day write the victory stories because the hard stuff, you don't have to write that down. You see it, it, it's stuck like Velcro in your brain. The victories will not stick as much. So write them down, thank God for them. Meditate on those things, give him praise. All of those things are so good for the brain because God has created us to worship him. So I think just being aware of what are the coping skills that I am using rather than just automatically gravitating to the easiest thing that's going to help you numb this.
Doc (12:27):
Yeah, I'd love that scripture. Isaiah 43 18. I'd love the two parts of it because it says, remember not the things of old and that includes the bad things and the great victories, that he's going to do something new, so there's a new victory ahead. Yeah,
Donna  (12:42):
Right, right, right.
Doc (12:43):
That's so good.
Donna (12:45):
But our brains just want stasis. And right now there's some areas of our western North Carolina that homeostasis may not be an option. So I think just allowing ourselves to say, okay, God, what is the impossible that you're going to do? And let me be watchful for it. And I'll tell you, if you'll position yourself to be watchful for it, you're going to start seeing his hand. I've already seen it over and over and over again. The devastation is there. Yes, and we can acknowledge that. We don't have to pretend it's not so, but his hand is also there. You look for it, you're going to see it. Write it down because you don't ever want to forget it.
Doc (13:30):
It's Donna Gibbs from Summit Wellness Centers and Faith Connect, and most recently from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, maybe even in unofficial capacity. We're so grateful for you and so thankful for you. Can I pray for you before we go?
Donna  (13:45):
That would be great, doc. Thank you,
Doc (13:46):
Father. God, thank you for this time together. Thank you for Donna, thank you for her heart, for you and her heart, for people and her heart, for the way in which your people think and get along mentally. We just ask you, Lord, that you would protect her as she goes forward. Just like everyone in this situation, she's in it just like we are. And Lord, I just ask for your protection and that you would speed along her recovery and as she comes in contact with people who are in need of adjustment in the thinking that she would have the exact right words and the exact right things to say and to do with those people. Bless her as she moves forward. In Jesus' name, amen.
Donna (14:28):
Amen.