After the tsunami, Aceh faces chronic mental health problems

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

Thirty-four-year-old Maisarah Muharram M. Noer can still remember when she was brought to a psychiatrist several weeks after the tsunami, screaming her lungs out with an intravenous drip in her arm. "Everything was instantaneous. I thought I had gone insane," she told The Jakarta Post.

Maisarah survived the tsunami after successfully fighting the treacherous currents. The remains of her husband and three young children have yet to be found and possibly never will be. She is now alone and suffering from severe trauma.

While her wounds have healed, she remains mentally affected. Frequent memory blanks mean Maisarah often has difficulty recognizing simple words. But it's better than before, she says, when was frequently spooked by the sounds of helicopters and wailing sirens while being treated in hospital.

"They sound like an approaching tsunami. I usually screamed as hard as I could if I heard those sounds," she said.

Her family brings her to the psychiatrist regularly. "I'm better now, but I'll still scream if there's a quake," said Maisarah.

A resident of Linke village, Banda Aceh Abdul Munar, 24, also survived the tsunami after being swept two kilometers inland. He lost his elder brother and his fiancee. Like Maisarah, Munar also has experienced deep trauma. He still sleeps by the door of his house for a quick escape. "I can run outside easily in case of a quake," he said.

Munar may be able to forget about the waves but the aftershocks still rattle him.

The Acehnese are still feeling the effect of the tsunami five months after it struck the area on Dec. 26 last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in a joint effort with the University of Indonesia (UI), had conducted a study on the mental health conditions of tsunami survivors in Aceh and Nias. The survey involved 1,600 survivors, 730 of them children.

According to the survey, children are better at coping with the trauma than adults. Dr. Irmansyah, from UI's psychiatry school said that 20 to 25 percent of the children had experienced significant emotional and behavioral problems during the post- tsunami period.

Irmansyah said the good news was that most of the children were showing improving signs of positive social interaction.

"Some of the adult survivors, however, have suffered a higher degree of post-traumatic stress."

WHO will focus on the mental health conditions of tsunami survivors by establishing a health care center in Aceh in the near future.

"Many developing countries hit by the tsunami pay less attention to mental health because they are more focussed on relief aid at the moment," said Mark van Ommersen, a technical expert from WHO's Mental Health and Substantial Violence Department. WHO will also train community leaders as well as 700 hospital staff in Banda Aceh to assist them to help traumatized survivors, "so that they will be better prepared to serve the community," Ommeren said.

Besides being affected by the tsunami, many people in Aceh have suffered mentally from the ongoing separatist conflict. The latest survey conducted by the Aceh Health Office indicated that 40 percent of Acehnese are psychologically troubled as a result of the conflict.

The combination of tsunami, earthquake and conflict trauma, means it is predicted the number of mentally distressed people will increase significantly in the post-tsunami period.