How To Prepare For A Disaster When You Have A Chronic Illness
When natural disasters, like hurricanes, happen it can reduce access to healthcare, medication and much needed support.
[Tweet “When we live in Florida or other states affected by natural disaster seasons, this can make managine your chronic illness very difficult, induce flares or promote disease progression…”]Unfortunately, when we live in Florida or other states affected by annual disaster seasons, this can make managing your chronic illness very difficult, induce flares or promote disease progression. The downsides to this include increased stress and anxiety which can increase symptoms that can be hard to get back under control once the disaster has happened. These events can also lead to anxiety and stress related to anticipating any future disasters.
Perhaps for you, It’s been difficult to get friends and family on board to do disaster prep, or they don’t take it seriously, which can lead to feeling helpless or like the people around you don’t understand how natural disasters affect people with chronic illness differently.
In a disaster, you could end up without power, without medication refills or even evacuating to a completely different location where you are unsure of the medical resources available or unavailable to you there. The truth is, this is a completely valid concern and a lot of people struggle to know how to prepare in advance for unpredictable situations. It’s OK to want to feel prepared so your disease management is not interrupted.
It’s true that natural disasters can have detrimental effects on people living with chronic illness. However, if we can learn to communicate our needs, coordinate alternative healthcare and treatment options and have backups set aside for the worst case scenario, we can make it through natural disasters while also managing our illnesses effectively. When we have a plan it is entirely possible to ‘weather’ ANY storm with ease.
Keep reading to learn how to start planning for natural disasters with your chronic illness in mind.
What Could Happen If I Don’t Prepare For A Natural Disaster Appropriately?
The biggest downside of not preparing for a natural disaster appropriately is interruption in healthcare or access to care leading to your disease getting worse or lack of critical treatments. At the very least, you find yourself with exacerbated symptoms due to the stress of it all. Living this way is extremely frustrating and can create a roller coaster of not only physical symptoms, but the emotions of dealing with an interruption in your disease management.
Hurricanes and natural disasters in our recent history have highlighted the importance of preparedness for people with chronic conditions.
[Tweet “Research has shown that evacuees with chronic diseases who required medications were 2x as likely to present with acute symptoms on arrival to disaster shelters…”]It is important to know that research has shown through ‘A study of Hurricane Katrina showed that the evacuees with chronic diseases who required medications were nearly twice as likely to present with acute symptoms on arrival to shelters; of those evacuees, individuals with comorbidities were also three times more likely to be acutely ill on arrival than those with no other conditions.
In addition to the interruption of treatment, conditions such as stress, the lack of food or water, extreme temperatures, and exposure to infection can contribute to the rapid worsening of a chronic illness that was well controlled before the event.2 In some studies, individuals with chronic conditions are more likely than those without chronic conditions to exhibit negative psychological consequences of disasters, although there are conflicting findings regarding this effect (Source: Emergency and disaster preparedness for chronically ill patients: a review of recommendations: Tomio & Sato)’
What will preparation and planning during a natural disaster do for me?
Although you struggle with stress and anxiety you have the potential to problem solve and find great solutions for any problem that comes up. When you choose to implement disaster planning effectively, you can approach disaster seasons or even unexpected disasters with less stress and anxiety and maintain your chronic illness management strategies that help you function and live your life to the fullest.
HOW TO reduce stress and anxiety by having a disaster plan
Yes, its true you may be feeling stressed but having a plan can reduce overall stress, reducing the chances that symptoms will be triggered during a disaster. [Tweet “The key to achieving preparedness is to identify stakeholders, communicate expectations, prepare supplies in advance and designate evacuation locations…”]The key to achieving preparedness is to identify stakeholders and supports, communicate expectations & ask questions, prepare any supplies needed in advance and designating possible locations to evacuate to that have the resources you need. Making these changes is not as difficult as you think because you will seek out the help of friends, family and medical professionals. When you follow a simple checklist, you will start to see that it isn’t as difficult as you anticipate and you will feel relieved to have a plan of action in advance.
Take a look at the checklist I have created to teach clients How To Prepare For A Disaster When You Have A Chronic Illness.
(You can download your copy here: Hurricane-Preparedness-Checklist-for-PWCI.pdf (1115 downloads ) )
Tips For Preparing for a Hurricane or Natural Disaster Event:
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Tips: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/coping-stress-natural-disasters |
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Preparing for a disaster event or hurricane can be stressful, overwhelming and scary, but it doesn’t have to be. You can prepare and plan ahead which helps you problem solve any issues you may not consider when your time and options are limited. Here at Imagine Life Therapy, I help clients work through all the fears, worries and stresses related to disaster preparedness so they can worry less and feel prepared for just about anything that comes their way.
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