I wish I could say to the Japanese people: You are not alone. The world is with you.
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I know people don't post a lot about current events affecting them and therapy, but I think this one is worth maybe trying to put out there and ask you all about.

It's incomprehensible what is happening in Japan... (I'll be vague about the "events" to try to keep this free of triggers as much as I can.)

I have two friends who live there, and I was very excited to find out today that they are ok!!! (for now anyhow) They are hungry and cold, no heat, but have some electricy and begining to find food (and somehow managed to get skype to work so they could reach family and post to let friends know they are ok.)

Everything going on there - it breaks my heart. I generally am very selective about what news I watch, as to not needlessly have to deal with triggers (especially when US style news is SO dramatic!) I do skim headlines on CNN/BBC/ITN and pick what I want to read - which sometimes isn't much. But what is happening in Japan, I can't avoid it...

Has anyone else been triggered by the events in Japan? Has anyone thought of talking with their Ts about it? Does anyone else get triggered by "regular" news stories and has to be careful what you watch or read?

This has impacted me in another way too. I grew up near a nuclear power plant built on a fault line next to the ocean. My father worked there for many years. Every year in school we had earthquake/fire/nuclear radiation leak evacuation drills in school - at least twice a year. I have a whole new perspective on those drills now...

Most of all, I am deeply saddened, to tears, about all that is happening in Japan. I woke up tonight, in tears, with it all coming out in my dreams. I am so sad, and honestly, a little scared too. It's just scary. I grew up in earthquake country (no longer live there now), so I know a very small amount of what it is like to have the very ground beneath your feet not be so steady. Yet, this kind of destruction is just tremendous. Indonesia, Haiti, New Zeland, China... and now Japan...

I have avoided most videos of it, and none with any bodies and stuff. But I did watch one of the ocean puring in... (I'll just stop there.) It was remarkable. Just took my breath away.

I think I need to probably talk to my T about it, but I feel like I am being so (overly) sensitive and weak about it. It's not like I am having live through the horrors of what is going on there first hand!

~ jane

Well, triggered... I have a huge issue with people dying in absolut terror because it just breaks my heart that the last thing they feel is fear. So yes, it definitely triggered me.
I had a newsticker on Friday and Saturday, sometimes went to watch it on TV but as soon as the Tsunami hit, I stopped watching. Tsunamis are something that scare me to death.
I've experienced earthquakes, the strongest one only a ~5,5 though. So I really wouldn't know how a 8.9 feels like.

I also have a lot of issues with news coverage and what they show. I am aware that it's important to not close your eyes from what's going on but I really don't want to see bodies in the water.

I live close to a nuclear plant that is in extremely bad shape. I also live very close to some major factories that deal with dangerous chemicals. And I live in a region that is in danger of having earthquakes.
But somehow I don't care that much. If you die of radiation... it's unavoidable because it's the air you breathe. I don't know, I feel like it's "easier" to die like that because you know there's nothing you can do. Of course, if it's not bad enough that you die, then it's a bit different but it's somehow too unreal for me to grasp.

I think it's a good idea to talk to T about it if it bothers you that much that you actually dream about it. You are definitely not too sensitive and weak. You care. You can imagine what it feels like so it's natural that it unsettles you.
((((jane))))

Jane, i'm glad you posted this. I kept wondering if someone would, but for some reason i couldn't make myself start the thread. To me it seems the destruction is so great that it is nearly traumatic just to hear the stories. But to admit that seems somehow wrong, like its disrespectful to the actual victims to feel traumatized when i am so far removed from the reality of it all, that i have no right to speak of being shaken by it unless i am the one actually experiencing it. It's part of the guilt that Monte mentioned.

quote:

Frosty, yes...thinking of my loved ones and myself being separated and then dying in terror like that. Unthinkable. Just thinking why oh why God does it have to happen to people over and over? Where were you when they called out to you? Etc.

This, for me, is a big part of why it is triggering. Most of us have not experienced firsthand the particular level of chaos and deprivation which the Japanese are currently facing; yet most of us still have some sort of trauma in our past which has led us to ask this question -- Why? Why the triple whammee? As if an 8.9 earthquake wasn't bad enough, then comes the tsunami, followed by the threat of nuclear meltdown, followed by the challenge to trying to survive for who knows how long without fresh water, food, shelter, electricity, etc. We know how to ask because we have said it to ourselves in the past -- Why did it have to happen? -- as it applied in our own worlds.

quote:

On another level though, this sort of thing is triggers me in other ways, some of which cause me a degree of shame.

Guilt...because I can switch the tv off and go back to my life of physical safety and comfort and feel glad it's not happening to me....

Guilt...because despite what is happening in Japan, I am still feeling sorry for myself...and in all honesty, am more absorbed by my own petty (by comparison) problems.

Can identify with this too, Monte. Because despite feeling triggered, my response is to numb myself away from it (because I have that option in my relatively comfortable state), and focus instead on my petty problems like missing my T. I don't know how many times, but its been a LOT in the past few days that I've felt guilty about this "need" to contact my T for assurance. My inner critic says I need to be a big girl and grow up and get on with life, because I don't have REAL problems, right?

Anything dealing with death I have to be really careful with because it's so triggery for me, so I haven't been following up on Japan after I heard about it.

I truly think this earthquake/tsunami is just another natural event because the earth is always changing and time is always moving. I don't think it has anything to do with a man-made problem nor anything with God (although I'm sure he sees everything that's happening, which is comforting in itself to me).

Although it wasn't a huge news story, I have talked to my T about things I've seen in the news -- specifically, I can remember a couple years ago telling him (and being very upset about) Patrick Swayze being diagnosed with cancer. I'm sure any T would think it was normal and perfectly fine to talk about current events if they affect you emotionally!

~D.

Hi, Jane. I think that all of the stories here are from people who are experiencing being a part of the human family. All of the different responses reflect that. I think what you are all experiencing is generally known as "caring."

I feel very disconnected from the events. I do not watch the news, or know any of the details. I strated hiding from the world years ago, and don't think I ever really come out again. this makes me feel bad because I know I am lacking in compassion and empathy as a result, and lead a very miniscule life. Prayers for Japan. It's all I can do.

BB

I almost posted a thread about Japan, but I was kind of afraid about if it would be triggery as well. I was a Japanese major, so I spent a lot of time studying their language and culture and I feel so sad about what the Japanese people are going through right now. I never visited Japan, unfortunately, but have always wanted to. I feel helpless, like as someone who desperately loved learning about that country, I should do something. I was concerned, because my little brother is a quarter Japanese and has family over there (luckily OK). A friend from church also has family over there and I don't know if they are OK or not. I am feeling very helpless, and like everyone else, stupid and guilty that my own problems are on my mind at least as much as the events unfolding there. It took me several days to be willing to look at images of the destruction and read articles about it...I didn't want it to be real. I feel pathetic for that.

I have watched some (watched Dateline last night) and I can't watch without crying. I hate to think of what all of those poor people are going through or went through as the disaster took place. It is horrifying to think about. I have to be careful how much of that I watch or I will get too upset. My thoughts and prayers are definitely with them.

It's been a long day that has left me exhausted in every way and I'm so tired I can barely think straight. But in the midst of my own stuff, those in Japan who are going through such pain and devasation, continue to be on my heart and mind. My tears keep breaking through the suface. Before I fall asleep, I just wanted to quickly say that I am so glad for what everyone has shared. It helps a lot... I'm so thankful for you all. I hope to come back and write more later. I'm glad this thread has been helpful for others too. ~jd