Arianna BennettChannel 2 News
Friday's Caughlin Fire was an event that affected the entire community, and it followed a whole host of other traumatic events that hit northern Nevada this year.
Just in the last few months northern Nevadans have had to handle the deadly Amtrak crash in June; in September-- the IHOP shooting, the crash at the Reno Air Races, and the motorcycle club shooting in Sparks, and now this devastating fire.
Psychologists said it's a lot for one community to take in.
"I have never seen so many events close together in a community that I was living in," UNR Psychology Chair Victoria Follette said, "and it really has been, I think, an overwhelming experience for the Reno community."
Follette said with events like these, it is very common for a lot of people to feel frustrated, stressed, and like they have no control over their lives.
Luckily, she says northern Nevada is a tight-knit community, and that sense of community will make the healing process much easier.
"The number one thing people need in this kind of really upsetting, difficult time," Follette said, "is to be part of a community of loved ones, and people they don't know, who reach out and support them."
Follette said it is normal to feel stressed by all of these events, but she said if you or anyone you know is feeling like the stress is unmanageable, that it is important to get some help.
She said to just call your doctor, a religious leader, or the clinic at the University's Psychological Services Center, at 784-6668.
