working with disaster case study

COU 680 Week Eight Case Study: Nora Nora is a 41-year-old African American single mother of two young boys, ages 8 and 10. She and her sons recently evacuated from their home ahead of a major hurricane. They stayed with relatives for two weeks until they were able to return to their home safely. When they arrived home, they found their house uninhabitable—a tree had fallen on the house, which led to significant flooding and structural damage. They will need to live elsewhere until the home can be repaired. While they have made short- term arrangements to go back to her family’s house, Nora is unsure how long they will be displaced and is particularly concerned about the commute to her sons’ school and her work. To make matters worse, she has been formally reprimanded at work for taking time off to meet with the insurance adjuster and construction team. Nora is presenting with symptoms of hopelessness, tearfulness, and despair. She feels overwhelmed at the loss she and her sons have faced and her perceived powerlessness to fix the situation. She notes feeling disengaged at work and unable to focus in many areas of her life.

History Nora has been a single mother for the past four years. She and her ex-husband divorced after her husband’s infidelity, and she and her sons remained in the home. Her ex-husband moved out of town two years ago and maintains somewhat regular communication with his sons—engaging with them on social media, speaking to them by phone roughly once a month, and seeing them every six months. Nora reports that although she has “no hard feelings” toward her ex-husband and strives to have a good co- parenting relationship, they do not maintain contact outside of his communication with the boys, and he is not a source of financial or emotional support to her. Nora has been employed as the general manager of a small chain of local restaurants for the past two- years. Prior to that she held the manager position for one of the restaurants for nearly ten years. Nora is hardworking and prides herself on doing a good job, providing strong support and mentorship to her team, and supporting the local community and its patrons. The recent hurricane has had a dramatic impact on her work life as well, destroying one of the restaurants and leaving many of her employees without a job. She has been charged by the restaurant owners to help in the effort to rebuild, which has only created more strain on her emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Developmental Considerations Nora was raised as the middle child of three siblings. She reports being close to her siblings and parents throughout her childhood and being a highly sociable child. She indicates no physical traumas or developmental delays, but does report that she lost her mother to breast cancer when she was 18 years old. Nora reports that this was a significant loss for her and her family, and that she has taken on the role of the mediator and “mother” for the family since her mother’s death, owning responsibility for family gatherings and being responsible for taking care of her father’s health needs in the past few years.

Relational Considerations Nora has a strong support network in her family. Her two siblings live within 20 miles of her, and her father is 45 miles away. None of their homes were significantly impacted by the hurricane, and all have offered temporary support for Nora and her sons. That being said, Nora is concerned about

overextending her stay, particularly given that there is not a lot of extra space for her family at any one of her family’s homes. Additionally, the commute for school and work is weighing heavily on her. Nora also has a strong friendship network she has been leaning on for emotional support. She reports that her friends, largely from her faith community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, have been what has gotten her through the hard times thus far. Unfortunately, many of Nora’s friends have also been directly impacted by the hurricane, and the Kingdom Hall she attends was hard-hit as well.

Multicultural Considerations Nora is a woman of strong faith. She has struggled with the loss of her home and the displacement this has caused, but she has also been particularly challenged by the damage at the Kingdom Hall where she worshipped twice a week. Between the commuting, additional need for time at work, and the challenges with her own home and children, she has found herself unable to seek solace through worship. She has tried to continue her practice of daily prayer and Bible study and has found herself grateful for the support she has received from the disaster relief committee and nearby congregations; however, she notes this is one of the most challenging parts of the disaster experience for her.

Diagnosis Nora’s symptom presentation is consistent with a diagnosis of adjustment disorder with depressed mood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

Reference American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

Washington, DC: Author.