Acehnese showing signs of mental stress
Acehnese showing signs of mental stress
More than three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami, 70 percent of survivors in Indonesia are showing signs of psychological problems, ranging from anxiety to depression, the government said on Monday.
It said the absence of a functioning mental health system has hampered efforts to treat an expected 400,000 patients in Aceh province, which bore the brunt of the Dec. 26 earthquake-tsunami.
All efforts by Indonesian authorities and the international community are "still not yet adequate," the government said in a report presented at two-day seminar aimed at formulating a psycho-social program for tsunami survivors.
It said the focus has remained on reconstructing the infrastructure rather than mental health.
"There should be a commitment to allocate sufficient resources for the rehabilitation of people, including development of a sustained ... mental heath program," said the report.
Health workers say tsunami survivors remain stunned, confused or angry about losing entire families, homes and livelihoods. Those feelings have been manifested in nightmares, depression and, in the worse cases, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Victims of PTSD become crippled by an extreme sense of helplessness or fear, and are incapable of caring for themselves.
The disaster killed at least 126,000 people in Indonesia, almost all of them in Aceh, and another 48,000 died in 10 other countries of the Indian Ocean rim. In the tsunami's immediate aftermath, authorities concentrated on burying the dead and providing basic needs to survivors.
In the absence of a mental health care system, the government should utilize the primary health system and community networks to tackle the problem, said one expert, Dr. Irmansyah, on the sidelines of the conference.
"We can train community leaders to screen for mental health problems and not blame people with these problems," said Irmansyah, who is working for the World Health Organization (WHO) on assessing mental health in Aceh.
The WHO has previously warned aid agencies not to lose sight of the long-term psychological needs.
Dr. Benedetto Saraceno, director of WHO's department of mental health, told The Associated Press in an earlier interview that almost all the affected population will show some kind of psychological disorder.
Suicide attempts and domestic violence may also increase, he added. The problem is compounded because even admitting to psychological problems carries a stigma in most Asian countries.
He noted that there are only five local psychiatrists in Aceh. The province's one mental hospital was heavily damaged and 25 of its 252 staffers died. It is now being rebuilt with the help of international aid groups, which are also working to set up a referral system across the province for the mentally ill. -- AP