For months, we've heard forecasters say they expect this year's Atlantic hurricane season to be highly active — ranking among the busiest on record.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts there could be between 17 to 24 named storms before the season ends on Nov. 30. Of those, between four and seven are likely to become major hurricanes.
READ MORE: Labor Day Weekend sets new hurricane seasonal record
But for children, hearing words like "disaster" or "explosive" when referring to hurricanes can be scary.
“People talk about hurricanes, they give it a name, and this storm … sort of becomes almost human and it has an eye,” Dr. Andrew Rosen, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Children’s Center for Psychiatry, Psychology and Related Services in Delray Beach, told WLRN.
“And this eye, for a child, feels like this is a monster coming.”
Rosen adds that this can lead to a child experiencing hurricane anxiety — which can be portrayed in the form of physical and/or emotional symptoms.
Some of the physical symptoms include headaches, trembling, vomiting, nightmares or trouble sleeping. Emotional symptoms can manifest as children being whiny, clingy, crying, afraid to be in a room by themselves, or even talking nonstop about a previous storm.
Rosen said to help protect children from over-experiencing the dangerous aspect of hurricane season, it’s necessary to explain that people get emergency supplies to be prepared for hurricanes if they come. Not to be alarmed in the preparation process.
“I use this example all the time — most places have a fire extinguisher, right? That fire extinguisher is there just in case, but it doesn't increase the likelihood that we're going to have a fire … but we have it just in case,” Rosen said.
How to tell children about hurricanes
- Explain that hurricanes are part of life and nature.
- Stay factual and don’t exaggerate what’s going to happen.
- Be as calm as possible and don’t have conversations in a scary manner, even if the children are not in the room, because they could be hearing the conversation from afar.
“Children pick up on conversations that you don't necessarily think they're hearing, and they also kind of read people, so they can tell when parents look scared or are overly worried about things,” Rosen said.
- Shift the focus from words like “disaster” and “explosive” to resiliency and recovery.
“It's important to convey that after a bad thing, there could be good things … otherwise it feels like there's no end to this thing,” Rosen said.
- Helpful to ask the child if there is anything they want to include in the hurricane preparedness supply list to give them extra security.
- Do not dismiss or invalidate their fears. Address questions the child might have, so that you can answer them and then the child can hopefully feel calmer.
Preparing for a hurricane
Rosen encourages families to try to live life as normally as possible while there is no hurricane but also during the hurricane. If possible, it is helpful to include games and other activities that are familiar to the children.
“You wouldn't want to just kind of hunker down and not do anything, because that lets the brain overthink,” Rosen said.
"Don't assume that when the storm's over for you, that the storm is over for the child, it may still be having some ripple effects for some time."Dr. Andrew Rosen, clinical psychologist and the founder of the Children’s Center for Psychiatry Psychology and Related Services
When the storm passes
After a hurricane, Rosen said it’s important to get children to express what the experience was like for them, how they feel and get them to speak about their fears by asking specific questions.
“Most of all, it's reminding the child it's over. The feelings are still there. Yes, the repairs we're doing are still going on. Yes, it may be hard to sleep for a few nights because of memory and rehearsing it and reviewing it, but the actual event is over,” Rosen said.
He adds it’s beneficiary to return to normalcy as quickly as possible: “We all rely on routine to feel calm and to feel in control, and children even more so love routine.”
“Don't assume that when the storm's over for you, that the storm is over for the child, it may still be having some ripple effects for some time.”
When should parents seek professional help for their children?
If the anxiety that you're observing in terms of symptoms — like difficulty sleeping and eating — goes on for more than (depending upon how bad the situation was) a couple of weeks.
A children’s psychologist can give parents/guardians tips on how to help children recover better.
How could a child psychologist specifically help children?
Rosen said that for children between the ages of three to six, a lot of the work is done through the parents. Essentially, teaching them what not to do and what to look out for.
He says that usually for those seven and above, psychologists often use a technique called play therapy that involves games for children who perhaps have a harder time verbalizing what their fears or issues are.
“Through play, they tend to act out whatever those fears and anxieties are and then the trained therapist can identify in the play what's going on and be able to respond to those fears and anxieties through play,” Rosen said.
For older kids, they also implement cognitive behavior therapy, which provides tools for children to fight the kind of thinking that keeps them anxious, worried or fearful.
“It's not like where you give drugs for this. It's much more helping a child kind of develop some defense mechanisms and coping skills. They help fight off the fear of the unknown because we all have fear of the unknown,” Rosen said.
