HOW WE COPE

Victim Support is a New Zealandbased independent organisation that provides free community support to help victims of serious crime and trauma. Their website – victimsupport. org. nz – provides a range of information, including common feelings and responses to trauma, such as horror, disbelief, anger, guilt, unfairness, desire for revenge, and challenges to your belief system. Victim Support also lists common mental reactions to trauma – which can include being unable to stop thinking about what’s happened, trouble concentrating, flashbacks, nightmares, absent mindedness or forgetting things, and difficulty making decisions or solving problems. Meanwhile, physical reactions include feeling tired, exhausted or unwell; sleep problems; low energy; inability to relax; lost or increased appetite; and feeling on edge or sensitive to noises/movements.

For someone coping after a traumatic event, the Ministry of Health recommend the following actions:

1 Spend time in places that feel safe and comfortable as much as possible.

2 Tell yourself that how you are feeling is a normal reaction and will pass – it is nothing to be afraid of.

3 Reach out to your usual supports – family and whānau, friends and workmates. Sharing how we feel, and offering support to others, is important for recovery.

4 Maintain your usual routines – mealtimes, bedtime, exercise, and so on.

5 Keep active – going to work, doing usual leisure activities, seeing friends and so on, can distract us from any distressing feelings, and is also helpful.

6 If, over the following days and weeks, distress or stress symptoms are escalating, or you feel you are not coping, early access to help and professional support is important. Your GP is a good starting point, or for support with grief, anxiety, distress or mental wellbeing, you can call or text 1737 – free, anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week – to talk it through with a trained counsellor.