Aceh's mentally ill suffer after being affected by tsunami<\/p>\n
Dan Eaton, Reuters\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Feared by their relatives and locked away for hours every day,
\nlife was never easy for patients at the only mental hospital in
\nIndonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province.<\/p>\n
But the giant waves that tore through the provincial capital,
\nBanda Aceh, the day after Christmas swamped the dilapidated
\ncollection of low-rise hospital buildings several kilometres from
\nthe sea.<\/p>\n
The tsunami that killed tens of thousands in the city filled
\nthe 300-bed facility with thick black mud that is only now being
\nshovelled out by Australian soldiers.<\/p>\n
The lives of those who inhabit the concrete cells and wards
\nwill take much longer to rebuild.<\/p>\n
Some traumatized patients climbed trees to escape the water,
\nwhile the rest fled into Banda Aceh, doctors told Reuters.
\nOf 350 hospital patients, only about 140 have returned after the
\nearthquake and tsunami. Many are filthy and wild-eyed.<\/p>\n
They have been joined by about a dozen people suffering trauma
\nfrom the tsunami, the first of many health officials expect to
\nneed help after a disaster that left more than 230,000
\nIndonesians dead or missing.<\/p>\n
\"The shock caused by extreme life events such as disasters can
\nexpress itself as mental disorders, depression and
\nsleeplessness,\" said Dr Kris, chief of medical services at Banda
\nAceh Mental Hospital.<\/p>\n
The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami struck more than a dozen
\nnations around the Indian Ocean rim, leaving nearly 300,000 dead
\nor missing from Thailand to Somalia.<\/p>\n
As many as 90 percent of survivors may have suffered
\npsychological trauma. Children are most at risk, mental health
\nexperts said at a meeting in Thailand this month.
\nTens of thousands would need either medication or counselling by
\ndoctors, relatives and religious leaders, they said.
\nHelp may be on the way.<\/p>\n
The Turkish Red Crescent Society, already working with the
\nWorld Food Programme to provide emergency relief to the
\nhospital's patients, said it was in talks with the government
\nabout building a new facility.<\/p>\n
\"There is a proposal for the construction of a new hospital
\nbuilding, but in the first three months they need emergency
\nthings like food,\" said Bulent Ozturk, an official from the
\nTurkish group working at the hospital.<\/p>\n
He said plans included a new trauma centre to cope with an
\ninflux of tsunami-related patients, but said it could be more
\nthan a year before the new building is ready.<\/p>\n
Kris said the number of patients at his hospital was set to
\nrocket as dozens of aid groups and foreign armies wound down
\nmedical operations at makeshift refugee camps.<\/p>\n
A 2002 survey showed many Acehnese already suffered trauma
\nafter nearly 30 years of rebellion in the province, he said.<\/p>\n
\"I think it will rise three or four times from the tsunami,\"
\nKris said, but he added the stigma of mental illness may keep
\nsome needy people away.<\/p>\n
\"We already had a trauma centre, but nobody came, because they
\nthought if they come here it means they are mad,\" Kris said.<\/p>\n
REUTERS<\/p>\n
GetRTR 3.00 -- FEB 12, 2005 09:19:34<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/acehs-mentally-ill-suffer-after-being-affected-by-tsunami-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }