JP\/5\/MENTAL<\/p>\n
Aceh faces chronic mental health problems after tsunami<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Thirty-four-year-old Maisarah Muharram M. Noer can still remember
\nwhen she was brought to a psychiatrist several weeks after the
\ntsunami, screaming her lungs out with an intravenous drip in her
\narm. \"Everything was instantaneous. I thought I had gone insane,\"
\nshe told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Maisarah survived the tsunami after successfully fighting the
\ntreacherous currents. The remains of her husband and three young
\nchildren have yet to be found and possibly never will be. She is
\nnow alone and suffering from severe trauma.<\/p>\n
While her wounds have healed, she remains mentally affected.
\nFrequent memory blanks mean Maisarah often has difficulty
\nrecognizing simple words. But it's better than before, she says,
\nwhen was frequently spooked by the sounds of helicopters and
\nwailing sirens while being treated in hospital.<\/p>\n
\"They sound like an approaching tsunami. I usually screamed as
\nhard as I could if I heard those sounds,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Her family brings her to the psychiatrist regularly. \"I'm
\nbetter now, but I'll still scream if there's a quake,\" said
\nMaisarah.<\/p>\n
A resident of Linke village, Banda Aceh Abdul Munar, 24, also
\nsurvived the tsunami after being swept two kilometers inland. He
\nlost his elder brother and his fiancee. Like Maisarah, Munar also
\nhas experienced deep trauma. He still sleeps by the door of his
\nhouse for a quick escape. \"I can run outside easily in case of a
\nquake,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Munar may be able to forget about the waves but the
\naftershocks still rattle him.<\/p>\n
The Acehnese are still feeling the effect of the tsunami five
\nmonths after it struck the area on Dec. 26 last year.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO), in a joint effort with
\nthe University of Indonesia (UI), had conducted a study on the
\nmental health conditions of tsunami survivors in Aceh and Nias.
\nThe survey involved 1,600 survivors, 730 of them children.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, children are better at coping with
\nthe trauma than adults. Dr. Irmansyah, from UI's psychiatry
\nschool said that 20 to 25 percent of the children had experienced
\nsignificant emotional and behavioral problems during the post-
\ntsunami period.<\/p>\n
Irmansyah said the good news was that most of the children
\nwere showing improving signs of positive social interaction.<\/p>\n
\"Some of the adult survivors, however, have suffered a higher
\ndegree of post-traumatic stress.\"<\/p>\n
WHO will focus on the mental health conditions of tsunami
\nsurvivors by establishing a health care center in Aceh in the
\nnear future.<\/p>\n
\"Many developing countries hit by the tsunami pay less
\nattention to mental health because they are more focussed on
\nrelief aid at the moment,\" said Mark van Ommersen, a technical
\nexpert from WHO's Mental Health and Substantial Violence
\nDepartment. WHO will also train community leaders as well as 700
\nhospital staff in Banda Aceh to assist them to help traumatized
\nsurvivors, \"so that they will be better prepared to serve the
\ncommunity,\" Ommeren said.<\/p>\n
Besides being affected by the tsunami, many people in Aceh
\nhave suffered mentally from the ongoing separatist conflict. The
\nlatest survey conducted by the Aceh Health Office indicated that
\n40 percent of Acehnese are psychologically troubled as a result
\nof the conflict.<\/p>\n
The combination of tsunami, earthquake and conflict trauma,
\nmeans it is predicted the number of mentally distressed people
\nwill increase significantly in the post-tsunami period.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5mental-1447899208",
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