Sources of Stress, Sources of Healing Published Jan. 9, 2010 By Chaplain (Maj) James Chizek 115FW Chaplain MADISON, Wis. -- Life can be hard. Real fear and stress can rip us. Nobody responds exactly the same to disaster or times of major loss (real or threatened) but here is a list of the more typical feelings and reactions people have: * Shock/denial * Anger * Guilt * Sadness * Overwhelmed * Disoriented/confused * Indecisive * Can't concentrate * Poor memory * Tiredness * Teeth grinding * Nervous * Nightmares * Trouble sleeping * Hyper-vigilance * Withdraw and isolate from others * Feasting or fasting to extreme * Diarrhea/Constipation * Headache * Paranoid * Self-medicate with drugs and alcohol * Irritable * Sight/sound/smell triggered haunting memories Can you relate? I sure can. Shortly after 9/11, at the Pentagon crash site, I had the privilege as a USAFR Chaplain to dress up in one of those white suits you saw on TV to minister to other white-suited workers sifting through the wreckage. I'll never forget the cheers and applause of the shift change. I kid you not; as the dazed and weary rescue workers walked off, they appeared to me to be walking in slow-motion video. Later on, it was helpful for me to learn about the Tache-psyche effect as the brain's slow motion recording allowing for greater reaction time. It's a survival mechanism and purely stress induced. With this greater knowledge of how my brain responds to trauma, I had a greater acceptance of this event because it seemed less surreal. Have you been dealing with any of the above? There is real help available, humanly and divinely speaking. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear," wrote King David in Psalm 23. His reason: "For Thou art with me." What's your reason not to fear? Need one? Make a start; come see me.