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Anxiety over oil spill seeping into classrooms
by Bigad Shaban / Eyewitness News
wwltv.com
Posted on May 26, 2010 at 7:12 PM
NEW ORLEANS ? Uncertainty over the oil mess and the still lack of a solution to cap it can leave quite the emotional toll.
Tony Morales, a teacher of ninth grade world geography, fielded some of his last questions of the school year.
It?s final exams, with just one more day left. But chances are, the students will soon be tested in other ways as oil creeps further into their coastal community. The anxiety has already oozed into the classroom.
"It's a topic every day,? Morales said. ?As it keeps going and going and getting closer and hitting St. Bernard Parish marshes, then we talk about how it's affecting our environment here. And then they start to realize it's a pretty big deal.?
Whether you?re a teacher who spends the summers crabbing for extra cash, or a student whose parents make a living off the seafood industry year round, Jaslyn Boudoin said, ?That's their income and it can ruin their whole lives."
Boudoin, 16, knows the loss.
"My grandpa he owns his own business in the seafood industry and he's out of work, too,? Boudoin said.
And while much of the crude floats to the top, the emotional baggage can weigh heavy, say physicians, including those who traveled the globe to attend an annual convention for psychiatrists, held just miles away from the growing mess.
"I've heard a lot of folks here are telling me this is the first time they kinda felt normal, and looking forward to New Orleans back to being New Orleans, and now with this, it's a psychological impact of going through another trauma,? said Josepha Cheong, associate professor at the UF Dept of Psychiatry.
A prolonged disaster that can cause serious anxiety.
For many of the students in post-Hurricane Katrina St. Bernard, the oil amounts to serious trauma number two. Several students have already sought help from school counselors.
"They'll come in and you'll kinda see that face, and you go what's going on? And they'll just say my dad's boat hasn't been out yet, the money is getting tight,? said Phyllis Diecidue, a curriculum specialist.
Students and even teachers learning how to cope once again. It's one lesson they'd rather not learn twice over.
Psychiatrists say anxiety from the oil can result in sleep loss, a lack of concentration, irritability and even depression. They say embracing support and love from friends and family can help lessen the symptoms.
by Bigad Shaban / Eyewitness News
wwltv.com
Posted on May 26, 2010 at 7:12 PM
NEW ORLEANS ? Uncertainty over the oil mess and the still lack of a solution to cap it can leave quite the emotional toll.
Tony Morales, a teacher of ninth grade world geography, fielded some of his last questions of the school year.
It?s final exams, with just one more day left. But chances are, the students will soon be tested in other ways as oil creeps further into their coastal community. The anxiety has already oozed into the classroom.
"It's a topic every day,? Morales said. ?As it keeps going and going and getting closer and hitting St. Bernard Parish marshes, then we talk about how it's affecting our environment here. And then they start to realize it's a pretty big deal.?
Whether you?re a teacher who spends the summers crabbing for extra cash, or a student whose parents make a living off the seafood industry year round, Jaslyn Boudoin said, ?That's their income and it can ruin their whole lives."
Boudoin, 16, knows the loss.
"My grandpa he owns his own business in the seafood industry and he's out of work, too,? Boudoin said.
And while much of the crude floats to the top, the emotional baggage can weigh heavy, say physicians, including those who traveled the globe to attend an annual convention for psychiatrists, held just miles away from the growing mess.
"I've heard a lot of folks here are telling me this is the first time they kinda felt normal, and looking forward to New Orleans back to being New Orleans, and now with this, it's a psychological impact of going through another trauma,? said Josepha Cheong, associate professor at the UF Dept of Psychiatry.
A prolonged disaster that can cause serious anxiety.
For many of the students in post-Hurricane Katrina St. Bernard, the oil amounts to serious trauma number two. Several students have already sought help from school counselors.
"They'll come in and you'll kinda see that face, and you go what's going on? And they'll just say my dad's boat hasn't been out yet, the money is getting tight,? said Phyllis Diecidue, a curriculum specialist.
Students and even teachers learning how to cope once again. It's one lesson they'd rather not learn twice over.
Psychiatrists say anxiety from the oil can result in sleep loss, a lack of concentration, irritability and even depression. They say embracing support and love from friends and family can help lessen the symptoms.
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