Moira Shire Council brought in clinical psychologist Rob Gordon to help address concerns about mental health following the recent flooding to the region.
Dr Gordon has been working in the field of disaster recovery since 1983 and met with council workers, councillors and residents on Thursday, February 9 at four different meetings, including one at Kotupna at 5pm, to discuss how to cope with the recovery.
Talking with the Courier after his meeting with council workers, Dr Gordon said those affected by the recent flooding needed to remember that recovery was not a sprint but a marathon and pacing was key.
“See it (recovery) not as a sprint, but as a marathon and the person that wins the marathon is the person that starts at a pace they can maintain till the end.”
Dr Gordon said trauma from the floods was akin to an injury to the mind, and was associated usually with what happened during the flooding, when people went through very distressing and frightening experiences.
“People often really need to be able to talk that (trauma) through a number of times with people who listen and understand.”
Dr Gordon said the longer-term problems had to do with people having an enormous amount of work to do with the recovery effort.
“That's often when, if you like, unnecessary losses occur. Like loss of relationships, loss of friendships, loss of health, and this we can protect people from by helping them around about this stage, a few months down the track from the disaster.”
Dr Gordon went on to say the need for people to preserve the ability to make good judgements regarding the longer-term was essential.
“The more stressed we get, the more we make decisions about the here and now without regard to the consequences.”
He said he had spoken with farmers who told him most of the work they did in the immediate aftermath of disasters had to be redone because it wasn't properly thought out.
“If you just put yourself in the focus of saying, ‘I've got to fix everything up’, you probably won't get through it all before something gives. Your health breaks down or you have a bit of an emotional meltdown.”
Dr Gordon said it was crucial that people affected by flooding didn’t stop doing things that gave their life meaning, be it sports, going out with friends or taking part in other pursuits which gave them joy.
He also spoke about the importance of not cutting oneself off from society but meeting with others who were going through the same situation and talking about it, which in turn could help put things in perspective.
Moira Shire Mayor Peter Lawless praised the event at Kotupna and described the speech made by Dr Gordon as invaluable and well-recieved.
“The meeting at Kotupna was a terrific evening. There was about 50 people who attended along with members from various agencies and support groups. There were also a number of council staff members as council is very concerned and wants to look after people’s wellbeing and mental health.”