Socks, by Hal Newman
Written by admin2 on October 20th, 2008Filed under: Uncategorized
Socks
by Hal Newman
Cynthia is nine years old. She was rescued from her home after floodwaters reached the second floor. Her mom and dad and sister and their two cats all made it out safely.
However, right at this moment, in the middle of an overcrowded Red Cross shelter, among hundreds of other evacuees, the only thing that matters to Cynthia is that her bed socks were left in the top drawer of the dresser in her bedroom.
Cynthia has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD]. Every single night she takes a shower just before bed, then brushes her hair, brushes her teeth, puts on her PJs, then stops at the top drawer of the dresser in her bedroom and selects a pair of bed socks for the night.
She only wears those bed socks in bed. If she needs to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, Cynthia will pause in order to remove her bed socks before stepping down out of bed.
According to the rules set forth in Cynthia’s OCD ritual, those socks cannot touch the floor and will be switched for another wear-anywhere-pair in the morning.
Cynthia’s bed socks are not here in the shelter. They are back there, somewhere, in the house in the middle of the floodwaters. Knowing that there is no way to retrieve her bed socks comes the realization she will have to confront her OCD ritual without any assurance of a positive outcome.
Cynthia begins to scream. Not a silent-open-mouth cry of frustration but a hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck full-body scream that rises in pitch until everyone in the shelter is painfully aware of the anguish of one little girl whose bed socks are missing, presumed drowned.
She will not be consoled. For more than an hour Cynthia screams and cries before exhaustion finally overcomes the little girl and she falls asleep.
Just a thought for all of you tasked with organizing shelters from the storm[s]. A child battling OCD rituals will likely have difficulty with disruptions to her routine. Even transitional times from one routine to another can be extremely challenging. The complete disruption of routine can be devastating.
“I have been plagued by OCD stuff since late childhood and often felt that if I didn’t do a certain pattern repetition that I would die or be responsible for the deaths of others. Progressively I came to doubt it by holding back and finding nothing bad happened.
“But still, as an adult, I have to hold back from straightening things or putting them right side up just because some nutso part of me says that if I don’t then deaths will occur. It’s so laughably nuts, but those who don’t have this can’t imagine how that grip in one’s guts really dominates reason.
“With OCD one can train oneself to not side with this stuff, not be bullied by it.” —Donna Williams interviewing Stuart Baker-Brown in the wonderful Irked Magazine [March 2008] available online.
Nearly 60 million [26 percent] Americans aged 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States and Canada. Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder.
Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Panic disorder usually develops in early adulthood. One-third of people with panic disorder develop agoraphobia—an acute fear of being in any place or situation where escape might be difficult. Obsessive-compulsive disorder often begins during childhood.
For Cynthia, losing her socks is more frightening than a monster in the closet. Knowing that can make all the difference in her world when a disaster turns it all upsidedown.
Be well. Practice big medicine.
Hal
I’m a former paramedic who reinvented myself after leaving the streets. My priority has always been my family. I’m the proud dad of twin nine-year-old daughters and quite privileged to be married to Dianne for – wow – going on 16 years. We’re not rich however we live life well and abide by the motto oft toasted to on New Year’s Eve: ‘Here’s to paying some of the bills some of the time…occasionally.” We go camping in the summer and the girls ride and jump horses in the fall and winter – I traded a website design & build with the owner of the stable for a discount on the lessons.
My name is Hal Newman. I’ve got three decades of experience in emergency services that have served me well as a team leader, policy advisor, and catalyst. I am the Executive Director of the National Emergency Management Resource Center [NEMRC] based in NYC. NEMRC has as its centerpiece a subscription-based membership community serving government, non-profit and corporate organizations seeking to improve emergency preparedness and response with respect to the special needs population.
I am also the founder and managing partner of Team EMS Inc. which is an information synthesis firm designing, creating and building intelligent situational awareness. As the Managing Editor of Big Medicine, I write about and closely monitor current and developing trends in emergency health and humanitarian aid. Big Medicine focuses on the human/social sciences aspects of emergency health, public health, and humanitarian aid. Big Med is read by subscribers in more than 50 nations – going out to more than 5,000 members of the emergency management community five days a week.
I also have the privilege of serving as the Senior Fellow for Emergency Health Services at The Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal [IPAM]. Counting over 2000 national political, labor, corporate, and communal leaders as members or associates, IPAM is one of Canada’s largest public interest advocacy alliances. The Institute pursues the pragmatic advancement of progressive action on the broad range of issues that make up the agenda of social justice in this country.
You can find me on the IAEM list serv, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and at the following websites www.nemrc.net, www.bigmedicine.ca, and www.tems.ca.
I’m based in Montreal but I’m certainly not adverse to roadtripping if anyone wants to gather together to exchange thoughts. If you have questions/concerns re emergency management for vulnerable populations [special needs] or you just want to compare notes on building networks with the goal of making our communities wiser and safer places to live, feel free to drop me a line at hnewman@tems.ca.
