{"id":21489,"date":"2026-03-11T11:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/finding-hope-after-catastrophic-loss\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:12:16","slug":"finding-hope-after-catastrophic-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/managing-life-changes\/finding-hope-after-catastrophic-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Hope After Catastrophic Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s impossible not to be touched in some way when catastrophes, natural or man-made, hit. Most of us absorb the horrors on TV or <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\">YouTube<\/a>\u2014towns crushed by the tsunami in Japan, oil gushing out of pipes a mile below the surface in the Gulf, a wide swatch of Tuscaloosa, Alabama reduced to rubble. Or, we read about people like <a href=\"http:\/\/guideposts.org\/hope-and-faith\/tornado-destroys-house-strengthens-faith\">Cynthia Wood surviving <\/a>\u2014along with seven kids and three dogs\u2014a tornado that sliced through her home.<\/p>\n<p>As the post-disaster weeks go by, re-building and recovery take center stage. Tents and trailers are set up, debris removed. But what of the survivors? How do they recover mentally and emotionally in the face of sudden devastation? How do you re-build a shaken faith?<\/p>\n<p>Traumatic events affect us deeply\u2014mind, body and soul. Intense, erratic emotions, thoughts and behaviors are common. Mental turmoil wears on the body, causing stress, headaches, nausea or heart strain. Such stress can in turn damage relationships. A survivor might withdraw, avoiding activity and people. <\/p>\n<p>When Andi O\u2019Conor, who was on vacation at the time, heard the news that her Colorado home had burned down she literally, physically started shaking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was that weird body adrenaline thing,\u201d she recalls.   She then emailed friends asking them to spread the word. \u201cThat\u2019s the real excruciating part, telling people,\u201d she says.  \u201cEach time you tell someone it&#8217;s as if it just happened; they react like you did when you first found out and you&#8217;re plunged back into that energy of shock and dismay.  Even after you&#8217;ve had a day or two to get used to it, telling people opens up that early wound all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For many, like Andi, what comes next is a \u201cdark night of the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is when your faith is tested in epic ways. I was asking, <em>What if everything I think is wrong, what if the universe isn\u2019t a benevolent place? What if God is going to drop me on my butt after all these years?<\/em> But I realized my faith hasn\u2019t changed. When all\u2019s well it\u2019s easy to say, \u2018Things happen for the best,\u2019\u201d but, she adds, when a catastrophe hits maintaining that faith is a true test.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately she discovered grace in the generosity of friends and strangers, and through helping others\u2013her neighbors had also lost their homes.  She also heard from people all over the globe who read her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.burningdownthehouseblog.com\/\">blog<\/a>. Hearing that her essays on loss and healing have helped others \u201chas been my real gift,\u201d says Andi.<\/p>\n<p>Most people use inherent coping skills such as relying on a social support network\u2013like Andi did\u2013reestablishing a daily routine, finding the information they need to carry on their lives.<\/p>\n<p>When Amy Knowles, assistant professor at King College in Bristol, Tennessee began her research on survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, she said her reaction was to pigeon-hole people into two categories: the folks who just \u201cgot by,\u201d and those who went beyond that, who thrived.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut,\u201d she says, \u201cI found that most people would weave back and forth. In the end, every single one of them exhibited at some point, the ability to overcome the world\u2019s most terrible disasters. The biggest thing I took away was amazement at how God allows us to overcome adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, she acknowledges, that while survivors may be resilient, it\u2019s common for memories of the traumatic event to return many years later. The Hiroshima survivors could vividly describe smells, sounds and sights from that day. Several admitted that, even 65 years later, certain sensory perceptions triggered acute memories.<\/p>\n<p>Survivors of a catastrophe involving multiple losses: any combination of spouse, children, home, neighborhood will likely be in a daze, because there is no way to prepare psychologically for being blindsided with that much disaster. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2018bereavement overload,\u2019\u201d says Dr. Karla Vermeulen, deputy director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at State University of New York, New Paltz.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to cope is to reach out to family, friends, clergy\u2013people who know and support you, says Vermeulen. \u201cIt\u2019s a process of adjustment, rather than recovery.\u201d Recent research defies the old view that victims\u2019 best step toward healing is immediately talking about their trauma. While some people may feel better sharing what they\u2019ve endured, for others, discussing it too soon may evoke the \u2018fight or flight\u2019 response that emerged when the event took place.<\/p>\n<p>Faith too can suffer in the midst of catastrophe. It\u2019s often a long road before some survivors recognize God\u2019s presence in their recovery. Particularly for people who believe even unconsciously, \u201cIf I pray,\u201d or \u201cIf I go to church, no harm will come to me.\u201d The pillar of their belief is upended. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt becomes \u2018Why me, why did this happen, what did I do wrong?\u2019\u201d says Alice Graham, executive director of the Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force, who coordinated pastoral counseling following Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill. \u201cA disaster can become a crossroads, either to a fuller understanding of God, or when it goes negative, God becomes punitive and disconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most important thing for caregivers is to simply let survivors talk. For as little or as long as they need. Graham re-assures people that they could express anything about their faith without risking indictment. She and her fellow counselors were there just to listen.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually she gently asks, \u201cHow has God shown up in ways that surprised you?\u201d Post-Katrina the answers were tales of generosity: people sharing their food, volunteers that drove in from other states, donations that piled up.<\/p>\n<p>Graham also found surprising sources of survivor resilience. While leading post-Katrina therapy sessions for seniors (which she called Caring Conversations), she saw many African-Americans recalling their fortitude in the face of prejudice and segregation. \u201cIf I can survive Jim Crow I can survive this\u201d was the attitude.<\/p>\n<p>Another surprising source of resiliency? The Gulf Coast\u2019s ability to celebrate the moment. Whether it\u2019s the Saints winning the Super Bowl or the annual Mardi Gras party or a jazz band procession at a funeral, \u201cIt\u2019s the strong community,\u201d says Graham. \u201cIt says \u2018God is still active and present in spite of what we have experienced.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether God\u2019s presence is revealed in a parade, or a shared plate of food, or a newfound desire to repay generosity, the common denominator is human connection. In the face of pain, resilience is found in our relationships with family, friends and faith.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 5 online resources that can help survivors of catastrophes:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/apa.org\/helpcenter\/recovering-disasters.aspx\"><strong>APA\u2019s Tips for Recovering from Disasters and Other Traumatic Events<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nThe American Psychological Association offers ways to understand what are the normal responses to catastrophic events in order to help individuals cope with the psychological and emotional after-effects.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nctsnet.org\/\"><strong>The National Child Traumatic Stress Network<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nThe organization\u2019s website has a wealth of information to help children, families and communities who have suffered traumatic events.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ptsd.va.gov\/\"><strong>The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nThis site has resources both for disaster first responders, and for victims.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ready.gov\/\"><strong>A Toolkit for Disaster Planning<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nThe best way to ensure your resilience after disaster? Be prepared. This website offers everything you need on hand in case of emergencies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ambiguousloss.com\/about_ambiguous_loss.php\"><strong>Ambiguous Loss<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\nThis is the website of Dr. Pauline Boss, author of <em>Ambiguous Loss<\/em> (Harvard University Press). The book and site define what it is (death without verification), a situation faced by many survivors of the tsunami and Katrina. <\/p>\n<p><em>Download your FREE ebook, <a href=\"http:\/\/guideposts.org\/free-ebooks\/power-hope-7-inspirational-stories-people-rediscovering-faith-hope-and-love\/download\">The Power of Hope: 7 Inspirational Stories of People Rediscovering Faith, Hope and Love<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s impossible not to be touched in some way when catastrophes, natural or man-made, hit. Most of us absorb the horrors on TV or YouTube\u2014towns crushed by the tsunami in Japan, oil gushing out of pipes a mile below the surface in the Gulf, a wide swatch of Tuscaloosa, Alabama reduced to rubble. Or, we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":29399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[376],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[509],"class_list":["post-21489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-managing-life-changes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Finding Hope After Catastrophic Loss - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding Hope After Catastrophic Loss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s impossible not to be touched in some way when catastrophes, natural or man-made, hit. 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