How to cope with a major. personal crisis. Information book

How to cope with a major personal crisis Information book Easy English edition 1 What this book is about This is an easy English book. It is about...
Author: Rosalyn Harris
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How to cope with a major personal crisis Information book

Easy English edition

1

What this book is about This is an easy English book. It is about •

how you feel after an emergency



how to look after yourself.

What is in this book? Words in this book

page 3

How you may feel

page 5

How your body reacts

page 9

People who may need more help

page 11

Children

page 14

Family and relationships

page 16

Help for you to feel better

page 17

How to ask for more help

page 22

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Words in this book

Emergency An emergency is something •

that happens very fast



you may not expect.

For example, •

windstorm



cyclone



flood



bushfire



car accident.

It may be called a crisis. crisis

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Counsellor This is someone who is trained to talk to you. A counsellor talks to you about •

your feelings. For example you may feel - angry - sad - scared



why you feel that way



what you can do to feel better.

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How you may feel

Emergencies are stressful. You may •

lose people you love



lose your house



get hurt.

You will feel lots of different emotions. It is ok to feel these emotions. Emotions are normal. You will not feel them forever.

Some feelings you may have are Shock You feel •

it did not really happen



it is like a dream.

Numb For example, •

you do not feel sad



you do not feel happy



you feel nothing. 5

Fear You feel scared that •

you or someone you love - will die

or - get hurt •

you will be left alone.

Helpless You feel there is nothing you can do.

Want You want all the things you lost. For example, you may have lost •

your house



your car



pets



people you love.

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You may feel •

guilt



shame



regret. regret

For example, •

you could not help your friends



you did not get hurt and other people did.

Happy You are glad you are alive.

Anger You feel •

the emergency should not have happened



it is unfair.

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Let down You may feel let down by other people. For example, if rescue workers did not save someone you love.

Hope You feel that life will get better.

You may have memories of the emergency. emergency Your memories may happen in •

dreams



flashbacks



daydreams.

This is normal.

You need to let yourself have these feelings. This will help you to get better. You may feel these feelings for a long time. You can ask a counsellor for help.

8

How your body reacts You may also have some changes to your body.

Your health may change. For example, you may •

feel dizzy



get runny poo



vomit



put on weight



lose weight



find it hard to breath



shake.

Women may get changes in their period.

Your sleep may change. For example, you may •

not sleep well



feel tired. 9

Your behaviour may change. For example, you •

feel like having more sex



feel like having less sex



find it hard to think about other things.

You may feel sore. sore For example, a •

sore chest



headache



sore back.

You may have •

alcohol



coffee



drugs.

You may do this to try and feel better. Do not have too much.

10

People who may need more help

You do not live near people. For example, people who live on a farm.

You do not have any friends or family near you. For example, you just moved to Australia.

You have a disability.

You do not have much money.

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You have been hurt.

You saw someone get hurt

You know someone who died.

You may have helped during the emergency. emergency This is a hard job to do. If people died you may feel you did not help enough.

12

Older people need more help. They may have less energy. For example, it may be harder for older people to rebuild their house.

13

Children

Children can feel scared after an emergency. emergency They find it hard to talk about their feelings. Children show their feelings by behaving in a different way. For example, holding onto people and not letting go.

You can make children feel better. You should



hug them



play with them



talk to them about the emergency



tell them they will be ok



let them draw about their feelings.

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Children should not •

look at pictures of the emergency



hear adults talking about the emergency.

If you are worried about your child you can •

talk to their teacher



talk to your doctor



contact Kid’s Helpline.

Kid’s Helpline

phone 1800 55 1800

Website www.kidshelp.com.au

15

Family and relationships After an emergency your feelings change. You feel stressed. This can change how you feel about your family and friends.

You may feel •

angry



jealous. For example, you were hurt and your

friends were not. not

Some friends may help you.

Other friends may not be good at helping you.

You may make friends with other people in the emergency. emergency You know how they feel.

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Help for you to feel better There are things you can do to help you feel better.

Do jobs that need to be done. For example, •

cleaning up



cooking food.

Know the truth. Do not pretend it did not happen. •

Go back to the place where the emergency

happened. •

Visit people who are hurt.



Someone you love may have died. It will help

to go to their funeral.

Talk to people. Talk about •

how you feel



what you saw



what happened to you.

You should not keep your feelings to yourself. 17

There may be news about the emergency. Do not look at this too much •

on the TV



internet



newspaper.

Watching too much can make you feel sad.

Spend time with your •

friends and



family.

Spend time alone. You need might time to think about the emergency. emergency

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Exercise. For example, •

go for a walk



play sport with friends.

Get enough sleep. It can be hard to sleep at night. You may need to have a sleep in the day.

Try and get back to your normal life. For example, •

go back to work



go back to school



play sport



cook.

Eat healthy food. For example, •

fresh fruit



fresh vegetables



food you cook at home



not take-away food.

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Do not have too much •

coffee



smokes



alcohol



drugs.

Drive safely.

20

Take enough time to do jobs. Do not rush. For example, if you rush cooking you may forget to turn the oven off.

Keep taking your medication.

Work normal hours.

21

How to ask for more help

There are 2 types of help you can ask for.

1 Informal. This is a chat you do not have to pay for. It can be with •

family



a friend



a work friend



a person from your church



a person from your community.

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2 Formal help. For example, a counsellor. counsellor

When you should talk to a counsellor

You have strong feelings. feelings For example, you •

feel very sad



feel very angry



have no one to talk to



feel like you want to die.

You have health problems.

For example, you •

do not sleep well



have problems with sex



have memory loss



are sick



smoke more



drink more.

23

You have problems with friends and family. For example, you •

get angry at your friends and family



are not doing well at work.

You can also get formal help from •

your doctor



a community health centre.

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You can get more information from

Australian Red Cross

Phone National office

03 9345 1800

ACT

02 6234 7600

NSW

02 9229 4111

NT

08 8924 3900

QLD

07 3367 7222

SA

08 8100 4500

TAS

03 6235 6077

VIC

03 8327 7700

WA

08 9225 8888

Visit the Australian Red Cross website www.redcross.org.au

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Developed by the Communication Resource Centre – a service of Scope. For more information, •

phone 03 9843 2000



visit the Scope website www.scopevic.org.au.

This is Version 1 of ‘Coping with a major personal crisis’, easy English book. Tell us what you think of this book. We can make changes for Version 2.

Contact Australian Red Cross to obtain the original booklets: •

‘Cleaning up after an emergency – Dealing with wind and water damage’



‘Coping with a major personal crisis’.

The Picture Communication Symbols ©19812009 by Mayer-Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission.

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