DIED. THE CORONER HAS NOT YET RELEASED HER NAME. MANY PEOPLE ARE FEELING EXTRA ANXIETY OVER THIS APPROACHING STORM, AND WITH HELENE STILL IN OUR REARVIEW MIRROR, THE MEMORIES ARE STILL FRESH. I SPOKE WITH DOCTOR FRANK CLARK, A PSYCHIATRIST WITH PRISMA HEALTH, ABOUT PROTECTING OUR MENTAL HEALTH. BEING PREPARED IS THE FIRST THING. SO BEING PREPARED ALLOWS US TO CONTROL WHAT WE CAN CONTROL AND ALSO RELINQUISH WHAT WE CAN’T CONTROL. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WE CANNOT CONTROL THE WEATHER, BUT WE CAN CONTROL HOW WE PREPARE. WE DON’T WANT TO JUDGE OUR FEELINGS. WE WANT TO IDENTIFY THEM, ACKNOWLEDGE THEM, AND THEN WE WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT ARE WHAT ARE WE ATTRIBUTING OUR FEAR TO. THERE’S A TRAUMA COMPONENT THERE. AND WHEN WE ARE TRAUMATIZED, WE TEND TO BECOME HYPERVIGILANT. WE TEND TO OVERREACT. AND SO WE HAVE TO GROUND OURSELVES AND CENTER OURSELVES. DOCTOR FRANK CLARK ALSO SUGGESTS TAKING BREAKS FROM MEDIA REPORTS PERIODICALLY. HE SAYS THAT WILL HELP KEEP YOU FROM FEELING OVERWHELMED. AND HE SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS. DON’T ISOLATE YOURSELF. SPEAK WITH TRUSTED FRIENDS ABOUT HOW YOU’RE FEELING. MOST IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU NEED IMMEDIATE SUPPORT, CAL
Safeguarding your mental health with the approaching storm
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Updated: 6:44 PM EST Jan 24, 2026
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As a big winter storm approaches our area, many people are experiencing rising levels of anxiety."You manage the anxiety, don't let the anxiety manage you," outpatient psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clark said. There are several steps Clark recommends, starting with "being prepared." "Being prepared allows us to control what we can control and also relinquish what we can't control. So, for example, we cannot control the weather, but we can control how we prepare. I'm thankful for our meteorologists who can do that for us, and so we can stock up on non-perishable items, and have generators powered up and ready to go," he said. Next, Clark says it's equally important to acknowledge how you're feeling."We don't want to judge our feelings. We want to identify them, acknowledge them, and then we want to think about what, what are we attributing our fear to? There's a trauma component there," Clark said. "When we are traumatized, we tend to become hyper vigilant, we tend to overreact, and so we have to ground ourselves, and center ourselves."Video below: Dogs having playful moments during Oklahoma's winter weatherClark advises little breaks from news coverage, saying, "If we're constantly staring at our weather app that's just going to drive up our anxiety, we have to know when it's time to put the phone down and turn off the media for a moment. We can come back to it later." Even if you can't physically get together with friends and loved ones, Clark says, "stay in touch.""We don't want to isolate ourselves when we have anxiety, especially about the weather. We want to talk to the people who we love and who love us, that we have psychological safety is so important in every in every area of our life, whether it be storm-related anxiety, or other things that may evoke anxiety," Clark said.Clark advises not to hesitate to reach out for professional help from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor. He says don't hesitate to use the resources available at 988 if you're feeling depressed."So 988 is the suicide hotline, but I would just look at it as it is the mental health hotline for people who are experiencing distress to the point where they're feeling hopeless and just need a listening ear, which is what we all need as human beings," Clark said.
As a big winter storm approaches our area, many people are experiencing rising levels of anxiety.
"You manage the anxiety, don't let the anxiety manage you," outpatient psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clark said.
There are several steps Clark recommends, starting with "being prepared."
"Being prepared allows us to control what we can control and also relinquish what we can't control. So, for example, we cannot control the weather, but we can control how we prepare. I'm thankful for our meteorologists who can do that for us, and so we can stock up on non-perishable items, and have generators powered up and ready to go," he said.
Next, Clark says it's equally important to acknowledge how you're feeling.
"We don't want to judge our feelings. We want to identify them, acknowledge them, and then we want to think about what, what are we attributing our fear to? There's a trauma component there," Clark said. "When we are traumatized, we tend to become hyper vigilant, we tend to overreact, and so we have to ground ourselves, and center ourselves."
Video below: Dogs having playful moments during Oklahoma's winter weather
Clark advises little breaks from news coverage, saying, "If we're constantly staring at our weather app that's just going to drive up our anxiety, we have to know when it's time to put the phone down and turn off the media for a moment. We can come back to it later."
Even if you can't physically get together with friends and loved ones, Clark says, "stay in touch."
"We don't want to isolate ourselves when we have anxiety, especially about the weather. We want to talk to the people who we love and who love us, that we have psychological safety is so important in every in every area of our life, whether it be storm-related anxiety, or other things that may evoke anxiety," Clark said.
Clark advises not to hesitate to reach out for professional help from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor. He says don't hesitate to use the resources available at 988 if you're feeling depressed.
"So 988 is the suicide hotline, but I would just look at it as it is the mental health hotline for people who are experiencing distress to the point where they're feeling hopeless and just need a listening ear, which is what we all need as human beings," Clark said.
