Fort McMurray residents coping through artistic expression

It’s been one year since a wildfire ravaged parts of Fort McMurray, Alberta. but many residents are still struggling with recovery.
 
Thousands of people lost their homes in the blaze, which claimed 10 per cent of the oilsands capital’s infrastructure.
 
One of those people was Hanna Fridhed.
 
“It’s been a hard year mentally,” she said. “There are a lot of people in bad shape.”
 
The Swedish immigrant said the recovery process has been “up and down” for those who lost everything, as they deal with landlords and builders to try and piece their lives back together.
 
But many are finding some healing through artistic expression.
 
“Art is the number one healer,” Fridhed said. “Being able to express the emotional turmoil, getting the response from other people saying ‘yes I feel the same way’ [is important].”
 
She noted many had turned to painting and performance to help channel their feelings.
 
However, Fridhed chose something else that’s helping her community.
 
She started a blog, deciding to write about how she felt on a day-to-day basis and opening up about her struggles with post-traumatic stress.
 
“You need to go through painful moments to be able to feel better in the end,” she said.
 
Through her blog, she expresses feelings of helplessness for not being able to speed up the housing process and shame for talking about her loss when others lost more.
 
“Not all the feelings are noble or beautiful,” she said. “Sometimes it’s frustration and anger, at things you didn’t think you were angry at or frustrated with. And that’s okay.”
 
Many residents began reading the blog, helping them realize they all shared after-effects of the fire.
 
“That realization of ‘you’re not alone’ was good,” she said. “What you’re feeling is not weird, or strange.”
 
An Alberta Health Services report details a mental health crisis in Fort McMurray and the surrounding Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
 
Between May 10, 2016, and March 8, 2017, mental health and addiction specialists were contacted 29,068 times by residents in the region. They typically saw 1,000 calls in a similar timespan before the fire.
 
Fridhed said people are more open in public about how they feel now and are more willing to seek help.
 
“It’s become more accepted,” she said. “People talk about it more.”
 
She added the openness has made the community stronger.
 
Despite blogging for nearly a year, the therapy isn’t over for Fridhed.
 
“There’s still a long way to go and things to deal with,” she said.