Michele Laurie is among thousands of flood victims in northern NSW struggling to rebuild their lives after this year’s catastrophic floods. Although the high water has receded, the mental health impacts are far from over.
“I've certainly found myself really quite overwhelmed where I've had a panic attack just recently,” says Ms Laurie, 47, whose family was among those forced out of home for many weeks by flooding.
“We have had a housing crisis here on the Northern rivers before the flood, and this is just amplified the disadvantage of families throughout this whole community.”
Michele Laurie's flooded house in East Lismore Credit: Supplied Michele Laurie
Yet many northern rivers residents consider themselves lucky to have survived at all. Some sheltered for hours on rooftops, others were trapped inside the roof cavity and were forced to cut themselves free.
The mental health impacts are now being felt across the region.
Michele Laurie is also an Aboriginal trauma specialist of Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl heritage and is working to support others affected, like herself, at a healing hub in Lismore.
The Aboriginal-led centre has so far offered wellbeing support in more than 1,400 sessions, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
A weaving circle at the Lismore healing hub Credit: SBS / Kingsley Haxton
“We utilise the ancient concept of yarning circles which hold no hierarchy. It’s an ancient concept of sitting together in circle and telling yarns, while practically using your hands and interacting.
“The experience of allows the space for everyone to come together in that circular kind of motion, which is a really significant symbol for Aboriginal people.”
Ms Laurie works closely with trauma specialist Associate Professor Carlie Atkinson, who is of Jiman – Bundjalung heritage and opened the Northern Rivers Community Healing Hub (NRCHH) on March 14.
Associate Professor Carlie Atkinson Credit: SBS / Kingsley Haxton
“The need for counselling and support is doubling. People's adrenal systems are collapsing, and many are hitting the wall.
“And we know of people who have called ambulances at night because they have passed out, their nervous systems are so shot.”
Studies after Lismore’s 2017 floods found that people displaced from their homes for more than six months had particularly poor mental health outcomes on measures of depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Professor of Mental Health at Sydney University James Bennett-Levy Credit: Supplied Professor James Bennett-Levy
“We can absolutely expect a significant amount of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, domestic violence, and suicides, unfortunately. So whole range of mental health problems.”
He says while it’s too early for formal mental health interventions, the NRCHH’s walk-in approach can be helpful particularly for the region’s large Indigenous community.
“In the first months post-flood [what people need] is social connection and a telling story in an informal setting.
Massage therapy is also offered at the hub Credit: SBS / Kingsley Haxton
The NSW government has pledged $25 million for mental health support for flood-affected residents, but many working on the mental health frontline are already exhausted.
“We will see quite a level of burnout in that workforce. Yet we do not have the housing solutions to bring in whole loads of people from elsewhere,” says Professor Bennett-Levy.
“And unless we develop strategies right now, to train a new workforce, we are going to be in deep trouble in northern New South Wales. And we will face a secondary crisis in terms of social and healthcare.”
Lismore houses surrounded by floodwater in 2022. Source: Getty / Dan Peled
“In the coming six to 12 months, we would expect to see an increase in suicide rates, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
“We also expect to see an increase in young people accessing services. And there is likely to be an increase in substance-use related presentations at the [hospital] emergency department.”
Many Lismore businesses remain closed Credit: SBS / Kingsley Haxton
Michele Laurie faces a $20,000 repair bill for her home in East Lismore.
She is raising four children alone, and recently returned to the property she purchased in January this year, just weeks before torrential rains hit.
Her daughter Talah, 23, was at home when the floodwaters rose.
“I was actually asleep in this front room with our family dog,” she says. “We were quite lucky that we were rescued. When the water did peak, it came up to above the door frames,” she says pointing to a high-water mark.
The region flooded on February 28 this year, and again on March 30. The northern rivers damage bill is estimated at more than $240 million.
Lismore in flood Credit: Supplied Talah Laurie
As a Jiman-Bundjalung woman Associate Professor Atkinson integrates Aboriginal cultural processes into group healing. Her services are run through the family business We Al-li founded by her mother Emeritus Professor Judy Atkinson AM.
In Woppaburra language ‘We’ means fire and embodies the spirit of cleansing that is essential to healing, re-creation and regeneration. ‘Al-li’ means water, the source of all life.
She is among several Lismore Aboriginal women leading change in this crisis.
Associate Professor Atkinson leading a yarning circle Credit: SBS / Kingsley Haxton
“So the first thing that we do, particularly at the healing hub is just try to regulate people's nervous systems. It is why things like body work and massages are incredibly important because trauma is stored in the body.”
Professor James Bennett-Levy praised the efforts of people like Associate Professor Atkinson, who is working tirelessly to support those in distress.
“The Aboriginal leadership in this crisis has been absolutely exemplary.
“There is a long history of trauma, obviously within the Aboriginal community. Yet one thing that has really evolved is the capacity to connect as soon as events like this happen and show that kind of leadership.”
The healing hub is a small step, but its inclusive approach is helping to strengthen Aboriginal culture, and is earning respect within the broader community.
“It helps all humans. It is really about talk therapy with an Aboriginal framework, and looking at things more holistically,” says Associate Professor Atkinson.
“It has given Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people in this region an opportunity to show up, stand up and say: ‘Hey, here's a different way of doing things’.”
