Depression an aftermath of the Poso conflict

Depression an aftermath of the Poso conflict

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About one out of every eight people living in Poso regency,
Central Sulawesi, are suffering from mental illness as a result
of the sectarian conflict there that claimed more than 2,000
lives between 1998 and 2001, a team dealing with the mental
welfare of conflict victims said.

Team head Dr. Eko Susanto said about 30,000 people out of
Poso's population of 239,000 were suffering from moderate to
severe mental disorders, many of which were triggered by the
deaths of close relatives.

"They are generally refugees who either have already returned
home or have yet to go back home. Many have been traumatized by
numerous incidents of violence in the past," Antara quoted the
doctor as saying in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, on
Thursday.

Eko said most of those suffering from mental disorders were
women and children who lost relatives during the conflict.

He said sufferers could be found in all of Poso regency's
districts, as well as neighboring towns and regencies, including
Palu.

He said the number of people suffering from mental illness had
increased drastically because of what he called "an act of
ignorance".

The team is having difficulty treating the sufferers because
of a shortage of antidepressants and antianxiety drugs. He said
the shortage was caused by a halt in the distribution of drugs by
the central government to the area.

"Medical treatment is now even more difficult because the team
is running short of medicine. This has pushed many people who
were suffering from stress into serious depression," he said.

Eko asked the government for a shipment of drugs in the middle
of last year, but the request was never met. Without drugs to
treat patients, he and his team can only offer counseling to
sufferers.

However, he said he had seen significant progress as a result
of the work being done by his team.

The sectarian conflict that erupted in Poso in December 1998
claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced tens of thousands of
others, both inside and outside the regency.

The conflict officially ended when the two conflicting sides
signed a peace agreement in Malino, South Sulawesi, on Dec. 21,
2001.

Separately, the chairman of the Malino Peace Working Group,
Sulaiman Mamar, said he had assigned 21 specialists from various
backgrounds to help restore normalcy to Poso.

The specialists are psychiatrists, psychologists,
sociologists, anthropologists and religious leaders from several
different institutions in the province.

A team also is preparing to assist in handling trauma cases at
both the district and subdistrict levels, to support a similar
team operating at the provincial level.

The work being done by the specialists is meant to help
residents resume their normal lives and reduce feelings of anger
and revenge, which the experts fear could trigger future violence
if not dealt with.