Overcoming the psychological effects of natural disasters

Overcoming the psychological effects of natural disasters

By Myra Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The world is hit by many disasters every year.
This year alone several storms, floods and earthquakes have been
reported in several countries, followed by man-made disasters
such as bombings, poisonous gas attacks, fires and collapsed
buildings.

So far we have been lucky in that we can consider ourselves
spectators who follow the aftermaths of disasters on television,
radio or in newspapers. Different types of media have enabled us
to follow various disasters, not only in our own country but in
other countries as well, some in very remote places.

We all watch the coverage of disasters with sympathy for the
victims. Although however deep our sympathies are, we can of
course never really fully imagine their suffering. What we may
see is people rummaging through debris in search of belongings
which they wish to save, or people searching for loved ones who
were suddenly taken away from them, to disappear perhaps forever.

We saw people laughing in the Philippines while trying to save
a pig on a raft during a flood, and in Korea we saw people filled
with relief at being saved after more than one week of being
trapped under a collapsed building.

However, we see nothing of the initial experiences disaster
victims go through, the panic caused by tremors when the land
under them suddenly shakes, houses collapsing everywhere, trees
being uprooted and people running everywhere, not knowing where
to go, not knowing where they can find a place that is safe to
stay. What we do not see is their fear when their houses collapse
like playing cards, and their confusion when they try to save
elderly people or their children trapped in the house. Or the
panic when floodwaters inundate their houses, rising at an
alarming rate and threatening their lives.

An earthquake may cause even more fear, because aftershocks
can last for days, often tremors are felt many times an hour.
People who have lost the roof over their heads try in vain to
find shelter. Schools, office buildings and shops are no longer
open for daily business and the alienness of a routine disrupted
is felt.

Survivors are certainly wounded, perhaps not physically, but
mentally. Trauma is not easily forgotten nor suppressed. Material
and physical damage and loss can be measured and evaluated. But
psychological damage is difficult to understand, let alone be
estimated. Some may be relieved to find they escaped death, but
they still have to cope with grief for the loss of their loved
ones and for material loss. How can people understand the
helplessness felt at what happened when trying to save the
victims? And how small and helpless victims feel when nature
gives them a beating, when people disappear under collapsed
buildings, trees and rocks. The feelings of guilt of not being
able to save anybody or anything may haunt them for the rest of
their lives.

That they have to return to "normal life" may be easier said
than done.

When the American Psychological Association celebrated its
100th anniversary in 1992, it took the initiative to give
psychological assistance to the victims of Andrew, a hurricane
that caused enormous damage to the United States. This assistance
was carried out by psychiatrists, psychologists and social
workers and at the same time was research into the affects
disasters have on victims.

Storms are the most frequent disturbances in the United
States, where every year material damage reaches millions of
dollars. Other places are more prone to other disasters. Whatever
the disaster, the impact on the victims may be more or less the
same.

According to the findings of the research, published in the
November/December 1992 issue of Psychology Today, victims of
disasters are overcome by a state of shock, anger and frustration
at the time of the disaster. They try to find the remnants of
their belongings and to calculate their losses. These belongings,
often collected over a long time span, disappear in one short
moment. They feel humiliated because they have to receive aid and
this feeling may be the cause of psychosomatic illnesses, such as
headache or stomach ache. Usually called the "effect stage",
symptoms may last a few weeks to several months. Victims recover
slowly from this stage, when their physical condition improves.
This goes hand in hand with aid in food, clothing and housing.
But it does not mean total recovery, because the study showed
that victims still long for the conditions they lived under
before the disaster.

The second stage is the stage of recovery. This comes when the
victims slowly adapt to new conditions. They look for ways to
continue their lives, look for daily routines and even start to
feel that life is in their own hands again. This stage may last
as long as 18 months.

In the beginning they may feel like heroes; they help each
other and a feeling of solidarity develops. However, after a few
days, they may feel disappointed, because aid arrives too slowly
and there may be people who try to steal or to cheat. They may
become angry because the places where they have to stay
temporarily may be too small and too crowded. They may not get
along with the people they have to share the shelters with. These
people may be too noisy or may not observe the rules of
cleanliness. Epidemics of diarrhea or even cholera may be the
result of lack of clean water and food.

Victims may act out their emotions towards other members of
the family, especially young children, who may cry a lot because
they cannot sleep or do not have enough to eat. In Jambi last
month, we saw that reporters were attacked because relief workers
did not come in time to help the earthquake victims. There were
also rumors that young girls had been kidnapped, causing attacks
on security guards.

Tokens of sympathy come in various forms. In Indonesia some
leading newspapers have made it a tradition to open up a reader's
fund for disaster victims which enables readers to send in
donations. Since the names and the amounts of donations are
published, we may see that some people donate Rp 500, probably
their savings or pocket money for the day. Very touching indeed.

Donations of quick to prepare food, like instant noodles, are
of course very welcome because this food can be prepared easily
in shelters. But victims also need additional nutrition, such as
vegetables, protein, etc.

In addition to attempts to help them, we also have to make
sure that we guide them to accept their fate and to cope with
their grief. If not, victims will live in constant fear and may
be haunted by nightmares for a long time.