What should I do?
What's helpful?
You should:
- take each day at a time;
- do things that make you feel safe and secure;
- be patient with yourself; it may take weeks or months to feel that you and your life are back to normal;
- try to re-establish your usual routines such as going to work or school;
- spend time with family, friends and others who may be able to help you through this difficult time;
- give reassurance to children to help them to feel safe and to talk about their fears and worries;
- take good care of yourself physically; eat well, exercise regularly, reduce alcohol and drug use and get enough sleep;
- talk it over when you are ready, but, don't worry if you get upset or cry while you think or talk about what happened;
- take extra care; after a major incident or event, people are more likely to have accidents.
What isn’t helpful?
Bottling up your feelings isn’t helpful; let yourself talk when you feel ready.
Alcohol and drugs; while they can numb your feelings, they can also stop you from coming to terms with what has happened or cause more problems later.