Whether it’s a natural disaster, unexpected death, or another life-changing challenge, emergency events can affect us physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. For this reason, President Russell M. Nelson expressed this concern about our preparedness: “I urge you to take steps to be temporally prepared. But I am even more concerned about your spiritual and emotional preparation” (“Embrace the Future with Faith,”Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 74).
Learn tips now to prepare emotionally for future life challenges and emergencies.
Emotional resilience might not be the first thing you think of when you consider emergency preparedness. But emotional strength and resilience are important characteristics that can enhance your life while also helping you respond to and navigate adversity.
Emotions are a part of the human experience; they aren’t inherently good or bad. One way to weather difficult emotions is to prepare to face adversity and stressful situations before they arise.
The following tips can help you prepare emotionally for difficult situations such as an emergency or another crisis.
A critical incident or disaster may provoke overwhelming feelings of fear, anger, sadness, worry, and anxiety. Learn strategies for calming yourself during difficult times. You might try these techniques:
Keep in mind that some resources used for coping may not be available during an emergency. If medications are currently being used for mental or emotional health, talk with your doctor about ways to access them during an emergency.
Healthy interpersonal connections are vital for emotional well-being. Reach out and connect with others. You might start by strengthening marriage and family relationships (see Strengthening Marriages and Families). When connections with family or loved ones are not possible, reach out to people who are nearby such as neighbors, work colleagues, faith groups, peers, and communities.
In an emergency, it is common to feel worried about the safety of those you love. Create an emergency communication plan with loved ones and determine how you will communicate with each other in a crisis.
Emergencies or disaster situations can sometimes separate family and friends from each other. Consider creating a reunification plan that will determine meet-up locations where family and friends can meet. These preparations can help promote feelings of comfort and safety. Refer to the “Communication and Gathering Plan Activity” in your Area Temporal Preparedness Guide.
Identify trusted sources of information and plan to limit news and social media communications that are distressing or unreliable, especially in times of personal distress or wider crises (see General Handbook: Serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 38.8.41). Be cautious of inaccurate, deceptive, and deepfake communications. Safe, supportive, and reliable information is essential when you are experiencing a personal, family, or community crisis.
Make plans for handling sources of information in distressing situations by thinking through the following questions ahead of time:
After a critical loss or disaster, individuals may feel overwhelmed and vulnerable. Nevertheless, everyone has strengths that can be utilized. Resilience, adaptability, optimism, creativity, humor, responsibility, gratitude, perspective, leadership, and diligence are all valuable assets.
Journal about your strengths and how you might use them to help in a crisis. For example, crafting may not seem super helpful during a crisis, but making crafts with children can keep them entertained, cheered, and distracted in the aftermath of a disaster or emergency. Consider specific skills you have that can help support individuals, families, Church members, and communities. These strengths might include:
Building emotional resilience before an emergency can reduce long-term mental and emotional distress. We can learn how to develop and strengthen resilience by improving our relationships and strengthening our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. (See Facing Challenges: Strengthening Resilience: Self-Reflection and Improvement Guide for a self-evaluation that helps determine your strengths and areas for growth.)
The Church also offers a self-reliance course on emotional resilience. In this course, you will learn how to apply principles of hope and faith to better withstand life’s trials. Participants learn in groups, which provides the social support and connection that emotionally resilient people need to thrive.
During difficult situations, it’s important for us to support and strengthen each other. Sometimes we are unsure how to help and minister to those around us who are facing challenges and emergencies. Here are a few ways you can help others:
Some people are afraid they will say the wrong thing to someone who is experiencing challenges. They might worry that they could even make things worse. It is important that struggling individuals know you are there for them. Compassionately connecting can lead to effective and helpful conversations.
Some helpful things you might say include:
You can prepare to minister to others during a crisis by identifying your skills and strengths and reviewing the following:
Disasters, distressing challenges, and losses can affect our emotional wellness. Though many people recover from these situations using their own strengths and social supports, others need help from outside resources to cope and heal.
In general, professional help is needed when you are struggling with a continuing and distressing problem that you cannot get relief from. Here are signs that you may need professional help: