“As soon as the current returned, we began to notice that our youngest son was more frightened, more difficult to separate from us,” he recalls. He has many questions “what if”. Corbett says her youngest son’s personality “changed overnight” after the devastating May 21st storm, known as derecho, that hit parts of Ontario and Quebec. His brother is also affected. “They kind of watched our trampoline get up and fly over the fence,” Corbett told CBC. “It was quite traumatic to see something that they see as a really heavy object that should not move, just rise like a wing.” Corbett said her eight-year-old son is doing better, but not much. “It’s a little easier to explain things to him a little bit logically,” he said. But they both continue to ask their mom for the weather every morning, something they did not do before derecho. “If he knows it’s raining, [my older son] asks to look at the radar map on my phone so he knows exactly what the weather will be like so he can [prepare] for this.”
CHEO see more references
CHEO, a children’s hospital in eastern Ontario, Ottawa, says it receives referrals for children suffering from stress and anxiety after last month’s big storm, but psychologist Dr. Carole Gentile warns not to characterize it as a big influx. “This does not mean that children do not react to the experience of having gone through the storm and somehow face the consequences, especially those who may have been most affected,” Gentil said. Eastern Ontario Children’s Hospital says it receives referrals for children suffering from stress and anxiety after last month’s big storm (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press) He added that for those who felt personally in danger, whose lives had been disrupted, who may have been sensitive in advance or who may have experienced a previous trauma, the impact of the storm can be very different and can manifest in different ways. For many, this could be increased anxiety or oversight, while Gentile says older children may be more prone to feeling defeated or upset.
A normal answer
Gentile said parents can help alleviate their children’s fears by normalizing their child’s reaction. “It’s perfectly right and normal to be scared after an experience that was sudden, big, potentially threatening,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. And just validating this to our children is really helpful. “So it might be more helpful to say, you know, it’s understandable that you’re scared. And we were scared, too.” Dr Carole Gentile says some children may feel more anxious, anxious and overly alert after the May 21 storm. (CBC) As for Corbett, she hopes that time will alleviate some of her sons’ anxieties. “I’m sure other families are on the same boat. I’m sure other people are experiencing that,” he said. “So we hope that talking about this normalizes it for more children ρετε You know they are not the only ones who have these fears.”
