Recovery & Resources / AN ORANGE COUNTY GUIDE TO COPING WITH FIRE : Addressing the Emotional Problems : Reaction: Fire victims are advised to keep an eye on family members, friends and themselves, for warning signs of depression and denial.

Those raking through the ashes of their homes this week may be looking in the wrong place for the serious damage. It could be deep inside themselves.

“Loss hurts,” says Dr. Bruce L. Danto, a Fullerton psychiatrist specializing in crisis intervention. “Home is perhaps the last personal thing we have in our lives today. It’s one of the most important emotional investments besides family itself.

“So when this happens, people can react with depression--severe depression, almost a state of shock,” he says. “The guy you see on TV who says, ‘We’ll just rebuild,’ you don’t have to worry about him. But the people just sitting on the curb waiting for someone else to take over, they are the people who are overwhelmed.”

Some fire victims may have already had emotional problems when the fires struck, he says. “This is a compounding of loss at a time when they may not be emotionally equipped to handle any loss.”

Danto urges people affected by the fires to keep an eye on family members, friends and themselves, looking for warning signs of depression and denial. Look especially among the elderly, he says.

Worry less about the children, he adds. “If the family’s intact and adults are taking over, the children may not feel it as much. For them, it’s almost a carnival atmosphere. It may be more like a camping adventure, a release from boredom. If the parents are coping, then the children will.”

Adults must guard against “emotional closure, where they wall themselves up as if they’re in a cocoon,” Danto says. “It’s important for them to recognize a human need to share and express these feelings so they don’t bottle them up and explode.

“Basically, the more you talk about something, the less traumatic it is,” he says. “They should not feel ashamed of crying, of admitting frailties. We all have them. You can cry and still be a rock of Gibraltar.”

Danto offers these as warning signs of emotional trouble among adults:

* Inability to make decisions. “They just don’t know what to do. That’s a serious sign.”

* Changes in sleep or appetite. “Watch out for extremes, like nightmares or complete loss of appetite.”

* Emotional “constipation.” “They’re frozen; they can’t let anyone see how they feel. This is another bad sign. You can’t go through something like that without having feelings. They will show up sooner or later.”

* Emotional intemperance. “Too much crying. Getting overly angry about everything. “

* Apathy. “Nothing seems important. They just sit there.”

* Loss of perspective. “Being unable to count your blessings. They are, after all, part of the balance sheet.”

* Loss of a sense of humor and pleasure. “Humor is a very important commodity to hang onto, unless they can’t take anything seriously. Then there’s a lot of denial going on, and that’s pathological humor. But people must retain capacity to release stress and anxiety. The people who were mugging at the camera on TV are OK.”

And Danto offers these warning signs for children:

* Sleeplessness.

* Nightmares.

* Loss of appetite.

* Gastrointestinal problems.

* Bed-wetting when that had been resolved before the fire.

* Irritability or rebellion.

* Loss of interest in play. “Becoming withdrawn, that’s a bad sign. It’s an indicator of depression.”

* Crying spells that are prolonged and out of the ordinary.

* Unusual clinging. “Wanting to be held all the time, fear of separation from their parents.”

“In general, you’re looking for changes in personality, people not being themselves,” Danto says.

If the problem is minor, talking with a friend, social worker or clergyman could be enough to set things right, Danto says. Otherwise, psychiatric therapy or even hospitalization might be necessary, especially for people with a history of emotional problems.

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Timothy P. Mullins, the county’s director of mental health, said the emotional problems caused by disasters usually do not surface until a month or so after the event. By then he expects to have launched special, federally funded mental health services.

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Mental health services for adults are available at two locations near the Laguna Beach fire: in Laguna Beach at 30818 S. Coast Highway ((714)-499-1877) and in Aliso Viejo at 5 Mareblu ((714) 362-4095). Both clinics are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday.

County mental health services for children are usually obtained through referral by local schools but are also available at 21632 Wesley Drive in South Laguna ((714) 499-5346) between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.