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Experts: Psychic trauma a problem
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-01-03 00:44
Millions of people may have survived the deadliest tsunami in living memory,
but many are so deeply traumatized it will take years for them to heal, if ever,
medical experts said yesterday.
Lo Wing-lok, a Hong Kong doctor with Oxfam who is helping survivors in India,
said survivors were in shock and utter despair in Tamil Nadu, the country's
worst-hit area.
"The psychological trauma is very intense. People are sitting outside their
destroyed homes with nothing left. Crying and weeping. It's a picture of
despair," Lo said.
"I went to a village with 24 deaths, there was weeping and crying in every
corner. It will take a very long time for them to recover completely, if at
all," said the infectious disease expert who warned of likely epidemics of
cholera and dysentery.
"Most of them are fishing folk. They don't know how to restart their
livelihoods with their homes and fishing boats gone. Even if they were given
back their boats, they are too frightened of the sea to go back, for at least
the time being."
A 9.0 magnitude undersea quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra the day
after Christmas sent tsunami slamming into Indonesia, India, Thailand, Sri
Lanka, Malaysia and other countries as far away as Africa, killing more than
145,000 people so far. Thousands more are missing.
At least five million people are displaced and many face the risk of diseases
such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, Ecoli and salmonella in the very near term,
doctors warn.
Equally insidious, though not as obvious, are the psychological scars that
many survivors will live with for the rest of their lives.
Wounds too deep to see
Rescuers in Velankanni in India celebrated a miracle last Tuesday
when 8-year-old Anthony Praveen sat up amid a pile of corpses that were about to
be buried in a mass grave, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
The boy, who lost his parents and sister to the giant waves, was able to
utter his name and address in hospital but has remained speechless since.
Doctors there have diagnosed him as suffering severe trauma, with one
classifying it as a case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Psychiatrists say survivors of major disasters will suffer emotional turmoil
and grief for months, even years. Those who need to return to making a living
would be better able to cope.
"For those who don't need to worry about survival, they may go deeper into
emotional turmoil and between 15 and 20 per cent (of survivors) develop PTSD,"
said Tsang Fan-kwong, a specialist in psychiatry at Hong Kong's Castle Peak
Hospital.
Some symptoms of PTSD include nervousness, insomnia and excessive worrying.
Sufferers also re-enact scenes of the catastrophe in their minds and avoid
anything which reminds them of the disaster, such as going to the beach or
watching television news. People with severe PTSD fall into depression.
PTSD could occur immediately or take place years later, after the victim has
handled problems in the aftermath of the crisis.
Thanks to the body's natural healing powers, most survivors would be able to
heal themselves and recover.
But Tsang said those with PTSD will require professional help -- such as
counselling, psychotherapy and making sure they have enough sleep -- to stave
off depression.
"Depression is a very debilitating and painful disorder and sufferers will
not be able to carry on with their daily activities. If not recognized and
treated, 15 per cent (of those with depression) may commit suicide," Tsang
warned.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is sending counsellors
into a few schools to help the classmates of students missing.
Eight students, four from international schools and one teacher, were
confirmed missing after the catastrophe.
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