I Ain't Worried 'Bout Nuthin'

 

Natural disasters are scary. Not just for the destruction they bring, but for the memories and nightmares they bring with them. As a child, we are in a bubble that encompasses our own unique world. It's the safety of our home, the family that loves us, the school and friends we go to everyday. What happens when this bubble is popped? When this world that we knew and loved, is gone?

This is what natural disasters bring. They can either be quick and deadly like tornadoes, floods, or fires. Or they can be drawn out and beyond damaging as is the case with hurricanes and earthquakes. While many children may not have to experience more than the news or the occasional lightening strike close to home, the reality is that many children around the world face natural disasters many time in their life, incapable of moving from the danger zones due to finances, or the fact that this place is their home. 

In September of 1998, three days after my sixth birthday, my young world was affected by Hurricane Georges when I lived in Biloxi, Mississippi. "The hurricane maintained Category 2 intensity as it tracked through the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall near Biloxi, MS on the morning of September 28th with maximum winds of 110 mph and a minimum pressure of 964 mb" (National Weather Service Forecast Office, n.d., para.2). It flooded our home that we lived in on Keesler Air Force Base, leveled my outside classrooms at my elementary school, and displaced many of my friends who lived even closer to the Gulf of Mexico, some who moved before I ever got to see them again. My small little world was turned upside down, but I was lucky that my family and community had ample amount of time to know when the hurricane would make landfall and to make it further inland. The memories of living at a hotel for weeks and the cleanup after will always be ingrained in my mind.

Hurricane Georges also impacted other children my age in Puerto Rico and influenced the stress levels of the children there. On the "eastern part of the island, 2,238 individual cases were reported as receiving crisis counseling in a 3-week period, including approximately 467 cases of children that were exhibiting acute reactions to stress" (Felix, Hernandez, Bravo, Ramirez, Vaiya, & Canino, 2011, para.12) It was the first hurricane to hit the island in 9 years, and has since been the last hurricane to directly hit the island since. These children's lives were affected similar to mine and will live with these memories for their entire lives.

References

Felix, E., Hernández, L. A., Bravo, M., Ramirez, R., Cabiya, J., & Canino, G. (2011). Natural Disaster and Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Puerto Rican Children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology J Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(4), 589-600. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9483-1

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2016, from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mob/?n=georges

Impacts on Child Development

MENTAL HEALTH OF MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND FAMILIES IN GENERAL

         
           With so many public health measures that influence Child Development, it is hard to focus on one over another. That is why this week I have decided to take on a personal approach to the Blog Assignment and talk about my own experience with mental health issues (with emphasis on alcoholism) within a family and how it affects Child Development. My father was an alcoholic in my younger years and quit when I reached an age where I could understand what was happening. He then took the bottle again when I was in high school, an age where I had started distancing myself from my family in preparation for the journey into adulthood, yet while my younger siblings were at a viable age. I watched as the disease took a hold on my family and changed my brother and sister's perspective on the world. Alcoholism itself is a result of addiction and as Berger states, "There is no single 'alcoholic gene'...genes create an addictive pull that can be overpowering, extremely weak, or somewhere in between" (Berger, 2016, p.85) which means that either myself or my siblings are at risk to develop a dependency on an addictive substance because of our influence growing up, especially with the knowledge that temperamental traits can be inherited. However, that does not mean we have to dread the future. Currently, my father has been a year sober and has changed his life around once more. As a result, my siblings, who both still live at home, have created a new relationship with him and have reached an age where they recognize the disease and know that they do not have to fall victim to it. In many cases, children do not get to see their parent turn sober and as a result, grow up thinking that this is the norm in which to follow. These Children of Alcoholics (CoA) are a community of children and adults who have seen the effects of alcoholism and mental illness within their own families. When this happens through the vital stages of Child Development, it can be detrimental to their own ways of thinking and how they develop.

          While like many mental illnesses, there is no true way to "cure" alcoholism. It is a constant battle and one that must be dealt with, if anything, for the child's sake. It is important to recognize the symptoms and seek help, but it is equally important to educate the child on what is going on. When the child understands that alcohol is an addictive substance and that their parent has a disease that controls them, then they can began to realize that they do not have to grow up thinking it will control them also. In fact, alcohol should not be necessarily labeled as "bad" for the children. Many cultures, especially European ones, celebrate alcohol. Alcohol is seen as "an important accompaniment to food...Its use in religions is ancient, and reflects social approval rather than scorn" (Heath, n.d., p.346) which is important as children grow up with alcohol in the home as a means for food and religion, rather than a source of escape for the parent. It can even be said that European standards of having the drinking age start at as young as 15, prevents alcohol from being seen as this great entity that Americans use to feel as a source of empowerment as they have to wait until they are 21 years of age to drink, an age in which many are away from home and around peers who do not realize alcohol is not just a drug to escape reality, but should be a source used in moderation and not always funneled out of a chugging-bong. 

References

Berger, K. S. (2016). The developing person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Heath, D.B., "Some Generalizations about Alcohol and Culture," pp. 348-361 in Heath, D.B., ed., International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1995, p. 350-351.