Tell Us Your Story

 

Before you begin please agree to this policy (click here):

Copyright Release for Web Site. Do you give My Disaster Recovery the exclusive right to post your story on this website, indefinitely, with the understanding that you may submit changes to your story, or request its removal, at any time?

This means that other websites may freely link to your story, but nobody would have the right to reprint this particular story without the prior express written permission of both of us. This is to make sure that our site visitors will be reading original stories here, rather than "repeats" of stories from other websites.

This release refers only to this particular version of your story, which means that you remain entirely free to post other, different versions of your story anywhere you choose.

Check one:

Yes, you have my Copyright Release for web site use.

No (Please stop here, or email cbenight@uccs.edu with your questions about this.)

We will not use your real name in your story. We will assign a pseudo name for you. On the site you will be asked some questions related to who you are (age, gender, ethnicity, etc.). This will be used to personalize your story so others can relate more to your journey.

Tell us a little about yourself.

How old are you?
What ethnicity do you consider yourself?
What is your occupation?
Please indicate your gender. Male Female
   
Please tell us as much as you are comfortable sharing about your experience.
   
What happened (e.g. before, during, and after the disaster)?
Where were you when the disaster took place?

Who were you with?

What reactions did you have (e.g. emotional, physical, etc.)?
How long ago did this happen?

Were you injured? (If so, how badly).
What was the hardest part of dealing with the disaster? How have you been able to cope with it?
Please share how you dealt with strong emotions (e.g. anger, sadness, anxiety, depression, etc.) after the disaster.
If you have had (like most people after a disaster) distressing dreams, images, or thoughts about the disaster, please indicate how you have successfully handled them?

Please describe what specific strategies you have used to overcome the disaster (e.g. seeking help from others, counseling, letting time heal, exercise, etc.).

How much have you been able to get your life back to normal? Was this difficult? How did you do it?
How have you been able to reach out to get support for others? It is helpful for many people to know how to start such a conversation? Do you have any advice?

How have you been able to be supportive of others since the disaster? Is this different from before? It would be helpful if you could talk about struggles you had with this early on and to talk about what strategies you used to deal with these struggles.

Please mention if you have been able to come to accept what happened to you, and how you did it.
Tell us how you have managed to be optimistic about the future given what happened to you. Is this different since the disaster?
It is very helpful for people who have recently experienced a disaster to hear from people who have gone through similar experiences. What are the three most important things you would like to share with others about overcoming their experience with a disaster?

It also might be very helpful for people to learn from any mistakes you think you made in your recovery. What would you like to share with others concerning any mistakes that you would want them to avoid during their recovery?