'Normal reactions to an abnormal situation': ice storm stress builds

As a young mother and the wife of a lineman working to restore power on the Acadian Peninsula, Allison Robertson used social media to help her deal with the stress of dealing alone with a power outage.

"As soon as the storm hit, my husband was out the door gone working," Robertson of her husband, Ricky, who she has seen very little of in the last 10 days. 

Left at home alone with 16-month-old daughter Lola and no power, Robertson quickly had to learn to cope.

Psychologists who are making the rounds of warming centres and powerless homes have seen an increase in the number of people having difficulty coping with the ice storm and long power outage. 

Robertson had the support of her family but felt she had to do more to stay positive as the days stretched on.

"One thing I felt really was helpful was creating a post on Facebook that was giving thanks to all the people all around the province that were coming together to help us."  

Robertson shared her post each day, updating it when necessary. But she admitted that reading negative posts about the restoration efforts got to her. 

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"For me that was home alone with a baby, dark nights were scary with the trees falling, it was getting to me and again, the positive post was my way of coping through that.

"I found staying positive and giving thanks was an excellent way to deal with my anxiety." 

Helping the vulnerable

Anne Claire Larochette says people who are already vulnerable who have to deal with a storm like this need people to come to their rescue, including first responders and mental health workers.

"They're pretty much destitute," said the psychology resident, who's been helping people at a warming centre in Lamèque. 

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"It's really people who don't have the means to get electricity back to their homes. Their meters are broken, so even when their power comes back, they don't have enough money to call an electrician.

"They're on welfare so their cheques just came in. It's their cheque for the month and they don't have enough to call an electrician. We've been trying to make calls for people, get people their medications, things like that. People that are already vulnerable, and now they're in a situation where they can't fend for themselves."

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Larochette said people sharing some difficult stories with her. 

"Sometimes it's going around talking to people who need to talk," she said. "I've taken people into another room and really done more crisis intervention for people who need more professional support." 

Difficulty coping

"What we are seeing right now are normal reactions to an abnormal situation," said Lucie Michaud, a psychologist with Vitalité Health Network who works out of the Community Mental Health Centre in Caraquet.

"Right now we see people have more difficulties in coping … with all this. Maybe more frustration," she said. "Maybe more isolation.

"That's why we've been encouraging people not to isolate themselves, but still continue to talk to their neighbours, to go to the shelters and the warming centres to talk to people."

Psychologists have been visiting warming centres and shelters between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to talk to people.

Informal chats

Sites have also been set up in Caraquet, Tracadie, Lamèque and Miscou for people who would like to talk to someone if they aren't staying at a warming centre or shelter.

"We hear really difficult stories, but we also hear so many stories around generosity and helping each other," said Michaud, who noted that many of the volunteers at warming centres and elsewhere are storm victims themselves.

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"When you stay connected to that, it gives you a different perspective on things."

Alvina Savoie left her home in Halifax to help out in the warming centre in her hometown of Neguac. Retired from the military and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, she said helping others helps her heal. 

"It's really sad because a lot of the people here, they don't want to leave their home to even come and just get a warm meal." 

Robertson, whose husband will be working until the power is restored, said that remaining positive has helped him know she is OK so he can concentrate on his job. 

"I'm keeping busy and trying to get back on a normal routine."